AIKEN, S.C. – The University of South Carolina Aiken volleyball team erased a two-set deficit to pick up a thrilling come-from-behind win over Nova Southeastern on the final day of the 2012 USC Aiken Volleyball Invitational at the Convocation Center. 

The 3-2 (19-25, 24-26, 25-20, 25-11, 15-12) win over Nova Southeastern allowed the Pacers to split their matches on the final day of the USC Aiken Volleyball Invitational. USC Aiken opened Saturday with a 3-0 (25-11, 25-11, 25-16) loss to Palm Beach Atlantic. 

USC Aiken (4-4) concluded its home tournament with a 2-2 record.

USC Aiken will next travel to Banner Elk, N.C. to play in the Lees-McRae Tournament (Friday, Sept. 14-Saturday, Sept. 15). The Pacers will open the tournament with a 7 p.m. match against King at 7 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 14.

USC Aiken will open the second day of the tournament with a match against tournament host Lees-McRae at 11 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 15. The Pacers will close out the tournament with a 2 p.m. match against North Greenville. 

Match One – Palm Beach Atlantic 3, USC Aiken 0 (25-11, 25-11, 25-16) 

USC Aiken opened its action on the final day of the USC Aiken Volleyball Invitational with a 3-0 (25-11, 25-11, 25-16) loss to Palm Beach Atlantic. 

Palm Beach Atlantic (7-2) picked up 25-11 victories in the first and second sets before garnering a hard-fought 25-16 victory in the third set.

Palm Beach Atlantic closed out its win over the Pacers hitting .319 as a team. The Pacers hit -.093 as a team in the loss.

Just one day after becoming USC Aiken's all-time leader in digs, Samantha Lukralle (Lindenhurst, N.Y./Lindenhurst HS) led the Pacers in the Palm Beach Atlantic loss with 11 digs. 

No Pacer was able to claim double-digit kills with Ashley Diedrich (Orlando, Fla./Dr. Phillips HS) leading USC Aiken with six kills.Sheila Walsh (Fort Mill, S.C./Nation Ford HS) ended the Pacer loss with 14 assists. 

Kelsey Fox led the Sailfish with nine kills. Mariela Quesada added 10 digs for Palm Beach Atlantic. 

Match Two – USC Aiken 3, Nova Southeastern 2 (19-25, 24-26, 25-20, 25-11, 15-12) 

Nova Southeastern garnered an early 2-0 lead over the Pacers.

The Pacers would not be deterred though, claiming a 25-20 win in the third set to place themselves back in the match.

The Pacers dominated the fourth set, 25-11, to have all the momentum in their favor going into the decisive fifth set. USC Aiken closed out its match victory with a 15-12 win in the fifth set.

The Pacers finished the win over Nova Southeastern hitting .321 as a team. Nova Southeastern (1-7) hit .275 in its loss. 

Two Pacers recorded double-digit kills with Danika Maggard leading the way with 14 kills. Hannah Tierney (Winchester, Va./James Wood HS) was right behind with 13 kills of her own. She also had three blocks. 

Lukralle once again led the Pacers in digs with a match-high 31.

Alex Petock (Woodbridge, Va./Woodbridge HS) and Walsh paced the USC Aiken offensive attack with 22 assists each.

Danielle Graham was the top performer for the Sharks in their loss to the Pacers with 16 kills.