Box Score FLORENCE, S.C. – The University of South Carolina Aiken volleyball team lost a hard fought 3-0 decision to nationally-ranked No. 17 Armstrong in the Peach Belt Conference Championship Sunday afternoon. Set scores were 23-25, 22-25, 12-25.

The Pacers are now 19-13.

In the first frame, Amanda Bologna got things going with an ace for a 1-0 lead. After an attack error by the Pacers, Leah Rodgers hammered home a pass from Bologna for a 2-1 advantage. She then made three consecutive passes to Taylor Stratton for three straight kills and a 5-1 margin.

With the score at 6-3, a ball handling error made it 7-3 in favor of the designated visitors. Stratton posted a kill and an attack error by the Pirates pushed the score to 9-3.

After Armstrong took a 13-12 lead, an error by the Pirates and a kill by Stratton off a pass from Katie Toman gave head coach Glenn Cox's team a 14-13 advantage. Tied at 14, an error by Armstrong and a block by Stratton made it 16-14.

A point by the home team pulled the Pirates within one, but Stratton leaped high and pounded the ball off a Pirate for a point. Danielle Mercer found Sheila Walsh, who promptly went from attempting to set the ball to attacker. With a no-look shot, Walsh found the center of the court for an 18-15 lead.

However, Armstrong tied it at 18. The squads went back-and-forth for the next six points. The Pirates were able to inch out a 25-23 victory in the opening frame.

In the second set, USC Aiken trailed 4-0, but fought to get back in the contest. The squad traded points with Armstrong but still trailed 10-5. However, a kill by Rodgers sparked a 6-0 spurt by the visitors.

After the kill from the superb senior, Diedrich and Ellison posted back-to-back solo blocks, making the score 10-8. Then, the two combined for a block before a ball handling error on the Pirates knotted the set. A block by Diedrich gave the Pacers an 11-10 advantage.

USC Aiken built a 16-13 lead after a kill by Ashley Lind, an error by Armstrong and then a block by Hannah Tierney and Lind. However, the No. 1 seed would fight back, tying the set at 18.

Trailing by one, Tierney hammered home an over ball to making it 19 apiece. An error and a kill by the Pirates pushed the score to 21-19. Armstrong would go on to win 25-22.

USC Aiken fought hard in the third set but could not overcome the Pirates in the 25-12 contest.

For the match, Stratton led the team with nine kills while Ellison and Rodgers added six and five, respectively. Diedrich chipped in four.

Bologna dished out 13 assists to go along with five digs while Katie Toman led the team with 12 digs. Walsh distributed eight assists. Danielle Mercer totaled eight digs while Monica Cardona added six.

At the net, Diedrich led the way with five total kills while Ellison notched four.

For their superb effort, Ellison and Stratton were named to the Peach Belt Conference all-tournament team.

The Pacers, with a solid run to the conference tournament championship, USC Aiken will await the NCAA Tournament Selection to see if the team can earn an at-large bid. Heading into the tournament, the team was just outside the top 10 of the region. However, the squad downed two of the top 10 teams in the region en route to the spot in the PBC Championship.