Box Score AIKEN, S.C. – The University of South Carolina Aiken volleyball team played an outstanding match, dispatching Montevallo by a 3-0 score. Set scores were 25-19, 25-17 and 25-22.
The Pacers are now 18-6 on the season, including a 10-4 mark against conference competition.
Ashley Diedrich led everyone with 13 kills.
Taylor Stratton added 10 kills in the victory.
Hannah Tierney notched eight while
Julia Forster and
Sheila Walsh each chipped in six.
Walsh distributed a match-high 37 assists to go along with seven digs.
Katie Toman posted a match-best 15 digs while
Monica Cardona accounted for 14.
Diedrich accounted for two blocks and chipped in three aces.
For the match, USC Aiken tallied 47 kills and hit .306. The team accounted for 45 assists on the 47 kills.
USC Aiken found itself trailing in the early going by as many as three. However, the Pacers battled back, evening the contest at 11 on a kill by Diedrich. On the next play, Walsh hit Diedrich for another kill and a 12-11 margin. The Falcons managed to tie the contest on a couple of occasions after that and took the lead briefly at 14-13, but USC Aiken stormed back. Leading 17-16, Stratton buried a kill and an attack error forced a time-out by the visitors.
With the score at 23-19,
Julia Forster had a kill and
Aly Johnson swatted an attempt to end the set with the Pacers' 25-19 victory.
In the second frame, USC Aiken trailed 2-1, but managed to take a 4-3 lead after Diedrich registered a kill and an ace. Although it was close in the early portion of the frame, USC Aiken never trailed the rest of the stanza. Leading 12-11, Johnson added a kill and the Falcons had back-to-back attack errors, giving the home squad a 15-11 advantage. The highlight of the frame was an extended rally that included a dig with a foot by the Falcons' player. However, Johnson earned the point for the home team with her slam.
Cox's team extended the lead to seven at 21-14 after Walsh posted a kill and Diedrich stuffed another attempt. The Pacers cruised to the 25-17 win as Forster had a kill and Diedrich's ace completed the win.
The third set proved to be a back-and-forth affair. USC Aiken jumped out to an early 10-6 advantage. The Pacers tallied several of the points off kills from Stratton, Diedrich and Tierney, in addition to errors by the visitors.
The Falcons managed to take a 17-16 lead, but Tierney's kill knotted the contest. Cox's squad widened the advantage to 20-18 when Walsh deceived the defense by slamming home back-to-back kills. However, Montevallo tied the set at 20. The teams traded the next four points, but a ball handling error by the visitors gave the Pacers the lead for good. Tierney hammered home a kill and a ball handling error by the Falcons made it a 25-22 final.
The Pacers return to action tomorrow at 2 p.m., when they host Columbus State. Prior to the match, Tierney and Walsh will be honored for their outstanding careers at USC Aiken. Festivities are set to start at 1:45 p.m.
