COLUMBUS, Ga. – The University of South Carolina Aiken volleyball team posted a 3-2 victory over Columbus State Friday evening in a Peach Belt Conference contest.

The Pacers improve to 23-3 on the year and 12-2 against conference foes. The Cougars fall to 14-11 overall and 5-10 against league competition.

Julia Forster led everyone with a career-high 20 kills. She narrowly missed a double-double with nine digs. Amber Hendry was the only other USC Aiken student-athlete to reach double digits with 14 kills. Shawn Hotson missed out on a double-double by a kill, tallying 14 digs and nine kills. Kassy Johannsen led the way with a .462 hitting percentage by hammering home seven kills on 13 attacks.

Emily Teelon dished out a match-best 44 assists and came up with a career-high 24 digs. Danielle Mercer totaled 24 digs, tying Teelon for team-high accolades. Rebecca Martinez accounted for 17 digs.

At the net, Johannsen had three total blocks, including one of which was a solo stuff.

Head coach Glenn Cox's team overcame a 21-20 deficit to net a 23-21 advantage in the opening stanza after kills from Johannsen and Forster. However, the home squad rattled off three straight points for a 24-23 lead before Forster knotted the contest. The Cougars scored back-to-back points to take the first set against USC Aiken for the second time this season.

A back-and-forth affair in the second stanza had Cox's team leading 11-10. An error by the Cougars jump-started the high-octane offense of USC Aiken. Johannsen and Forster posted a pair of kills en route to a 15-10 advantage. Leading 16-13, Hotson found the court. Hendry slammed home back-to-back points before Johannsen befuddled the defense with an ace. Although CSU pulled within three at 21-18, two errors by the Cougars and an ace by Hotson made it 24-18. Forster's kill ended the set with a 25-19 victory.

The third frame was tightly contested. Leading 18-17, Hines found a hole in the defense for a 19-17 edge, forcing a time-out by the home team. Hotson came out of the break and served up an ace. An error made it 21-17. After the teams traded the next four points, Forster found the court on back-to-back plays for the 25-19 victory.

USC Aiken fell behind in the fourth set and could never catch up, falling 25-19. The loss forced the deciding fifth frame.

Cox's team started with two straight points in the deciding stanza. Hendry and Forster sliced the defense for kills. Although the Cougars knotted the score at 4-4, Hotson's kill gave USC Aiken a lead it would not relinquish. Forster had a kill before an error pushed the margin to 7-4.

With the Pacers leading 8-6, the visitors tallied the next two points thanks to a pair of errors. The squads traded points until it was 13-10. After a wild play, Hendry found Hines for a four-point margin. Another ball handling error on the home squad ended the match with the 15-10 victory.

The Pacers return to action tomorrow when they travel to Montevallo. The match is slated for a 2 p.m., CST, start. Live stats and video will be available at PacerSports.com.