AUGUSTA, Ga. – The University of South Carolina Aiken volleyball team picked up a 3-0 victory over rival Augusta Wednesday evening in a Peach Belt Conference contest.

The Pacers improve to 10-1 on the season, including a 3-0 mark against league foes. The Jaguars fall to 5-3 overall, including a 2-1 mark against conference competition.

In the win, head coach Glenn Cox's team dished out 50 assists, which is tied for sixth most in school history in a three-set match.

Julia Forster led the team with a match-high 14 kills. Shawn Hotson garnered a double-double with 12 kills and 16 digs while Taylor Stratton powered home 11 kills while hitting .320.

Alicia Hines hammered home five kills while hitting .364. Emily Teelon notched a double-double with 36 assists and 11 digs while posting five kills. Kassy Johannsen notched four kills and hit .400.

Danielle Mercer accounted for a match-best 17 digs while Rebecca Martinez accounted for 10. Johannsen led the way with three blocks, including the team's lone solo block.

After falling behind 8-3 in the first set, Forster registered a kill to break a 6-0 run. Trailing 13-7, an error by the Jaguars and back-to-back kills from Johannsen and Hotson made it 13-10. Down 14-10, Hotson and Forster pulled the team within two. After a point by Augusta, Forster, Hines and Forster ran off three straight points to tie the set.

Down 16-15, Cox's squad reeled off five straight points, including three coming from the powerful swing of Stratton. That helped the team jump to a 23-18 advantage and the squad cruised to a 25-20 win.

The Pacers jumped to a 4-1 advantage in the second frame after kills from Forster, Taylor and Hotson to go along with an ace by Teelon. Cox's squad made it 15-8 on a kill by Stratton. Up 20-15, Forster made it a six-point edge for the Pacers. A bad set by Augusta and an ace By Forster made it 23-15. A kill from Hines closed out the set 25-16.

Down 3-0 in the third frame, Hotson, Forster and Johannsen posted kills to even it at 3-3. The Pacers took an 8-5 edge on a ball handling error, but the Jaguars clawed their way back into it, taking a 17-16 lead. However, back-to-back errors made it 18-17 in favor of USC Aiken. Forster notched back-to-back kills to make it 20-17.

Augusta reeled off four straight points to make it 21-20 before Stratton knotted the score at 21-21 off a thunderous kill. A miscue by the Jaguars and an ace from Mercer made it 23-21, forcing a time-out. After the time-out, Augusta had an attack error before Mercer put an end to the match by confusing the defense with an ace that dropped between multiple student-athletes.

The Pacers return to action Friday when they play at Armstrong State at 7 p.m. Live stats and video will be available at PacerSports.com.