AIKEN, S.C. – The University of South Carolina Aiken reeled off a pair of victories Friday at the USC Aiken Invitational, downing Mount Olive 3-0 before coming from behind to defeat Eckerd 3-1.
The Pacers are now 5-1 on the season while the Trojans are now 4-2 and the Tritons are 5-1.
In the opener against Mount Olive, USC Aiken had a very balanced attack as head coach
Glenn Cox managed to play 12 student-athletes on the roster.
Taylor Stratton and
Shawn Hotson each led the way with eight kills while
Alicia Hines added seven.
Julia Forster and
Amber Hendry notched five kills apiece while
Kassy Johannsen tallied four.
Emily Teelon,
Danielle Mercer and
Avery Macklin all registered a kill in the victory.
Teelon paced USC Aiken with 25 assists, narrowly missing a double-double with nine digs. Stratton totaled 11 digs while Mercer led the team with 12. Forster and
Rebecca Martinez accounted for seven and six, respectively.
Forster, Hines and Johannsen had three block assists apiece while Stratton, Johannsen, Teelon and Mercer all had service aces.
Trailing 4-1 in the opening frame, an error gave the ball back to the Pacers. Hotson slammed home back-to-back kills to make it 4-4. The set remained close until a service error returned the serve to Cox's group with the score at 19-16.With Johannsen serving, the Pacers tallied an ace to make it 20-16. Hines hammered home back-to-back kills while Hotson totaled a kill for a 23-16 margin. Stratton's kill ended the frame with the 25-17 victory.
USC Aiken trailed 5-3 in the second set before Forster's kill gave the ball back to the home team. Hines and Hotson had a block and each registered a kill en route to a 9-5 advantage. The Pacers more than doubled up the visitors on a kill by Hendry to make it 15-7.
Johannsen and Stratton combined for a block before Teelon passed the ball to
Avery Macklin for her first collegiate kill, coming via her opposite hand to take a 21-10 lead. Forster and Johannsen would later combine for a block for the 25-12 win.
USC Aiken dominated the third frame, taking a 9-2 lead on a miscue by UMO. Leading 18-7, Stratton powered home two kills prior to Forster and Johannsen tallying a block for a 22-7 edge. The squad cruised to the 25-9 victory for the sweep.
Cox's team dropped the opening frame in the nightcap to Eckerd before bouncing back to rattle off three straight set wins.
In the contest, Forster led the way with 19 kills and 15 digs. Hotson had 11 kills and 13 digs while Stratton powered home 15 kills. Teelon distributed a match-high 52 assists to go along with nine digs, six kills and three aces while Mercer tallied a career-high 30 digs, which is the seventh most in a four-set match in school history. Martinez chipped in eight digs.
At the net, Hines, Hotson and Johannsen had three blocks apiece.
The 62 assists are ninth on the USC Aiken list for a team in a four-set match in school history.
After dropping the opening set by a 25-22 score despite hitting .359, Cox's squad registered a blistering .538 attack percentage in the second frame.
USC Aiken started the second stanza by blanking Eckerd for 10 straight points. With Teelon dropping back to serve, Stratton and Hotson slammed home kills. EC had three errors, but Forster pounded the court with a ball for a kill. Teelon's ace made it 7-0. Stratton blasted the court on back-to-back plays while Johannsen's kill made it 10-0.
USC Aiken would breeze past the visitors the rest of the set, winning 25-9 after running off 10 of the last 11 points.
In the third frame, USC Aiken jumped out to a 10-3 lead thanks in part to a few errors by EC, but also due to kills from Forster and Hines. The Pacers pushed the margin to 20-10 on kills from Stratton and Hotson en route to the 25-19 victory. Stratton ended the set with a powerful kill.
Cox's team led 4-0 after a kill from Forster, a block by Hotson and Johannsen and a kill from Hotson, to go along with an error by the visitors. However, the lead in the fourth frame dwindled and EC would eventually take a lead.
Trailing 19-16, Forster registered back-to-back points before EC made it a two-point margin. Down 20-18, Hines had a kill. An error by EC tied the contest. Then, a kill from Hines forced a time-out. The set was eventually tied at 24 when USC Aiken was called for a net violation in what it thought was the game-winning point. However, Teelon found Stratton for two thunderous kills, securing the 26-24 victory.
The Pacers return to action tomorrow when they host Belmont Abbey at 12 p.m., and Lenoir-Rhyne at 4 p.m. Live stats and video will be available at PacerSports.com.
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