MONTEVALLO, Ala. – The University of South Carolina Aiken volleyball team defeated Montevallo 3-1 Saturday afternoon in a Peach Belt Conference contest.

The Pacers are now 24-3 overall, including a 13-2 mark against conference competition. The Falcons are now 12-14 on the year and 5-11 against league foes.

Julia Forster paced the victors with a team-best 17 kills. Shawn Hotson accounted for a double-double with 13 kills and a season-best 24 digs.  Taylor Stratton returned to the line-up for two sets and registered 12 kills. Alicia Hines put forth a tremendous effort on the offensive front, slamming home eight kills without an error while hitting a team-high .381.

Emily Teelon distributed a match-high 49 assists while also coming one dig shy of tying her career high with 23 for a double-double.

Danielle Mercer led the defense with a team-best 26 digs. At the net, Kassy Johannsen and Forster had two block assists apiece while Teelon and Amber Hendry had one block assist each.

Rebecca Martinez performed well, tallying 11 digs to go along with three of the team's seven aces.

Collectively, USC Aiken posted 105 digs, which is tied for the third most in a four-set match in school history. It's also the 10^th most digs in a match in the overall school ledger.

Head coach Glenn Cox's team fell behind 8-2 in the opening minutes of the first set, but a service error gave the Pacers some momentum. A 5-0 spurt by USC Aiken made it 9-8 in favor of the home squad. Martinez had a pair of aces while Hines had two kills in the run.

A 7-1 spurt minutes later made it 15-11 in favor of the visitors. In the run, USC Aiken accounted for two blocks. Leading 19-15, Hendry hammered home a kill. Three errors by the home squad made it 23-16 before Hines and Hotson rattled off back-to-back kills for the 25-17 victory.

After dropping the second set, Cox provided a motivational speech during intermission. The third stanza was a back-and-forth affair, but USC Aiken found itself trailing 25-24 after a three-point run by the Falcons. However, Stratton found a hole in the defense, knotting the score at 25-25. Teelon found Forster on the next play for a one-point edge. Then, Mercer went to the service line and served up a bending ball that touched the line for the game-winner.

Despite trailing by two on several occasions in the fourth set and three at 18-15, an error by Montevallo provided the spark USC Aiken needed. Stratton fired home a kill and an attack error by the Falcons evened the contest at 18-18. A ball handling error by UM gave the Pacers a slim lead.

Tied at 19-19, Stratton found the court before Teelon served up an ace. The Falcons knotted the contest at 22 and the teams traded the next four points. Then, Forster took a pass from Teelon for a point. However, an error made it 25-25. Hines took a short pass from Teelon and found the court for a 26-25 advantage. An attack error by UM gave USC Aiken the 27-25 victory.

The Pacers return to action Wednesday when they play at UNC Pembroke at 7 p.m. Live stats and video will be available at PacerSports.com.