It was a season of firsts for the University of South Carolina Aiken volleyball team. A record-setting season that came to an end too soon, but will be discussed as arguably one of the best teams in the program's illustrious history.

Head coach Glenn Cox's 2015 team was one of the best in Division II and rightfully so. The squad had the returning Peach Belt Conference and Region Player of the Year in Ashley Diedrich. However, the team was loaded across the front line with returners Brittany Faulkner, Julia Forster, Alicia Hines, Aly Johnson, Jennifer Law, Ashley Lind and Taylor Stratton. Added to the mix a new setter in Emily Teelon, who stepped into the starting spot after the graduation of Sheila Walsh, to go along with sophomore setter Lauren Howard.

The back line was arguably the strongest in the region and could have matched up against nearly anyone in the country with Monica Cardona, Shawn Hotson, Danielle Mercer and Katie Toman.

Cox and his staff added a pair of newcomers who pushed the team each and every day in practice in rookies Okwunne Ogbogu and Chelsey Watts.

The Pacers opened up the season with their best start in school history. The squad traveled to Armstrong State's opening weekend and demolished its opponents by identical 3-0 scores, besting Lincoln Memorial, Tusculum and Brevard.

With a week off, the team had plenty of time to prep for its own tournament, the USC Aiken Invitational. Cox's team was up to the challenge, defeating Nova Southeastern by a 3-0 score in the opening match.

The Pacers then hosted No. 12 Palm Beach Atlantic, who would eventually go on to make the NCAA Championship before falling to Wheeling Jesuit. USC Aiken used a total-team effort in the 3-1 win. Diedrich hammered home 20 kills to go along with 16 digs while Stratton posted 10 kills. Teelon dished out 47 assists.

Defensively, Cardona and Toman each toppled the 20-dig mark as Cardona led everyone with 28 while Toman garnered 21. Hotson and Teelon reached double figures with 11 and 10 digs, respectively. At the net, Diedrich totaled five blocks while Hines had four.

The win helped keep the great start going as USC Aiken cruised past King and Belmont Abbey on the final day of the tournament by 3-0 scores.

The Pacers blasted UNC Pembroke in the conference opener on the road, but lost back-to-back matches against Francis Marion and GRU Augusta by scores of 3-0 and 3-1.

After defeating Georgia College in a rather quick 3-0 match, the team dropped its second road contest with a 3-1 defeat at Montevallo. However, Cox's team turned it around despite losing three of its last four matches.

USC Aiken reeled off its second-longest winning streak in the Division II era with 15 straight victories, including nine by a 3-0 score. In fact, only twice did the team get pushed to five sets during the tremendous winning streak.

The Pacers started the streak on Oct. 3 at Columbus State, defeating the Cougars by a 3-0 count. The team registered a sweep of the Patriots, evening the year at 1-1 against FMU.

In a weekend filled with crossover matches to get a better strength of schedule, USC Aiken entertained Mars Hill, Carson-Newman, Tusculum and Lincoln Memorial. The Pacers dispatched the opponents by scores of 3-0, 3-0, 3-1 and 3-0.

The Pacers returned to league play on Oct. 14 against Armstrong State on Chick-fil-A night and promptly pounded the Pirates 3-0, setting up a match with the Saints of Flagler.

On Oct. 17, Cox's team won the first set against the Saints 25-18, but lost the second 26-24. The team rebounded with a 25-16 victory in the third frame, but found itself on the short end in the 25-17 loss.

Trailing 4-1 in the final set, the team would have folded in the past, but an attack error gave the squad the ball with Toman dropping back to serve. With the score at 4-2, Diedrich and Hines blocked an attack before Toman rattled off back-to-back aces for a 5-4 edge. The team jumped to an 8-4 advantage before Flagler could score again. Leading 8-5, back-to-back errors by the visitors pushed the margin to 10-5 as the team cruised to the 15-9 victory.

USC Aiken recorded a sweep of Lander before going on the road to defeat the Bobcats and the Jaguars by identical 3-1 scores. The squad returned home for a 3-1 win over the Braves before rounding out its home regular-season schedule with wins over the Cougars and Falcons.

On Senior Day, Diedrich had a double-double with 19 kills and 18 digs while Teelon posted 60 assists and 21 digs. Defensively, the squad totaled 147 digs, including a school-record setting 45 by Toman. In fact, five players reached double figures in kills and five had double-digit marks for digs in the come-from-behind victory.

After losing the first two sets, the team won the next two sets by scores of 25-18 and 25-23 before taking the final frame 18-16 in a thriller.

A win on Lander pushed the streak to 15, but the team saw its winning ways come to an end at Flagler by a 3-2 count.

Heading into the final day of the regular season, USC Aiken, Armstrong State and Flagler all had chances to claim the regular-season title. However, the Bearcats upended the Saints and the Pacers took care of business against the Pirates by a 3-1 score, allowing the team to celebrate its first regular-season championship since the 2007 campaign.

As the No. 1 seed in the conference, USC Aiken hosted the PBC Championship. The team downed Georgia College 3-1 before sweeping Lander 3-0. However, the Saints took home the conference tournament championship.

Due to the body of work by the Pacers, the team secured the No. 1 seed in the Southeast Region for the first time in school history.

The team came up short against Erskine in the NCAA Tournament, but the squad accomplished so much during the season it will definitely be talked about for years to come.

Diedrich was named the PBC Player of the Year for the second straight season, becoming just the third person to earn the honor twice. Toman was named a second-team all-conference performer while Diedrich and Teelon picked up all-tournament team honors.

Diedrich, Stratton and Toman garnered all-region accolades. Diedrich ended her career with 1,336 kills, which is the fourth most in school history. Toman's 540 digs are the second most in a single season.

The team set the school record for digs in a match and digs in a five-set match while also putting itself into several categories' top-10 lists throughout the year.

Cardona registered a season-high 32 digs against GRU Augusta and posted at least 20 digs four other times. Faulkner made the most of her opportunities, totaling blocks on a pair of occasions.

Forster posted double-digit kills eight times while hitting at least .500 in a pair of contests, including a .524 with 12 kills and one error in the win over Belmont Abbey.

Hines notched a career-high nine blocks against the Jaguars and tallied at least four blocks on eight occasions. She also reached double-digit kills four times, including a 10-kill, zero-error performance against FMU.

Hotson recorded a pair of double-doubles against the Patriots and Railsplitters while also reaching double digits in digs 14 times. Her season high came against the Falcons with 22 digs.

Howard played a lot when the team went to a 6-2 line-up. She posted her first career double-double with 18 assists and 10 digs against Lander while dishing out a career-high 20 assists in the win over Tusculum.

Johnson overcame a preseason injury, battling at the net each and every day. She garnered a .688 attach percentage in the sweep of LMU and had three double-digit kill performances. At the net, she was tough, registering a monster block every time she was on the court. Johnson posted a season-high six blocks in the PBC Quarterfinal win over Georgia College and went for at least five blocks five times.

Law overcame an injury that forced her to miss the 2014 season, but battled back for her senior campaign. In the win at Georgia College, she registered her first career kills, block and dig on subsequent plays. Law posted a career-high three kills on a pair of occasions and had blocks in four matches.

Lind jumped out of the gate with a 10-kills, .563 attack percentage performance in the season-opening match and was versatile all year long. At times she provided offense while other times she was strong at the net and defensively.

Mercer was solid when she was on the court, totaling four double-digit digs matches, including a season-high 14 in the sweep of the Railsplitters. She was valuable in the regular-season finale against the Pirates and did a great job against the Bobcats in the PBC Tournament.

Ogbogu was behind a talented front line during her rookie campaign, but she still saw valuable time on the court. She made the most of it with a three-block, two-kill performance in the win over Belmont Abbey.

Stratton battled through injuries during the season and garnered 11 double-digit kill performances, including a season-high 17 at Flagler. She had at least eight kills 21 times.

Teelon performed well during her first season with the Pacers. She established a career-high 61 assists at Flagler and posted a career-best 21 digs in the win against Montevallo on Senior Day.

When Toman was moved to the libero spot, she thrived the rest of the way, rivaling the top performers nationally with nearly seven digs per set. She posted a career-high 45 in the win over the Falcons, but tallied at least 20 digs 12 times on the season.

Watts saw time in nine matches on the season, making the most of her opportunities in the sweep of Mars Hill. She rattled off 10 assists in the victory while also posting seven at Georgia College.

The 2015 season was definitely one that required a total-team effort en route to a 27-6 overall mark, a PBC title and the No. 1 seed in the NCAA Southeast Region. With only three seniors set to graduate, Cox and the rest of the team should be primed and ready to make a run at its third straight NCAA Tournament in 2016.