PEMBROKE, N.C. – The University of South Carolina Aiken volleyball team recorded a 3-1 victory at UNC Pembroke Saturday afternoon in a league contest.

The Pacers are now 16-3 overall and 6-1 in league play. The Braves fall to 8-17 overall and 0-8 against conference foes.

Anita Cookey-Gam tied her career high with a match-best 17 kills. Alie Smith added 16 in the victory. Brittani Vialdores and Christine Carroll totaled 11 and 10, respectively.

Ali Kirk dished out 28 assists while Alli Bell contributed 19 assists and nine digs.

Defensively, Rebecca Martinez posted a match-high 30 digs. Kayla Duggan added 16 while Vannah Strozier accounted for 10.

At the net, Carroll and Duggan each had a solo block. The solo stuff for Carroll pushed her into the USC Aiken all-time career leaders list in 10^th place.

After dropping the first set, head coach Glenn Cox's team responded in the second stanza. A kill from Cookey-Gam made it 4-2. The Pacers continued the offensive onslaught, taking a 13-4 lead. During the spurt, Cookey-Gam had five kills. Despite leading by nine points at 14-5 off a kill from Brittani Vialdores, USC Aiken's lead dwindled to three at 21-18. However, Vialdores found the court for a point. After a kill from the Braves, Carroll slammed home two straight for the 25-19 victory.

With the score at 5-5 in the third stanza, USC Aiken embarked on an 8-1 run. Other than a kill from Smith and Vialdores, the rest of the points came via miscues by the home team. The Pacers kept the Braves at bay, nearly trading point for point the rest of the way. Holding a 23-14 lead, Smith took a pass from Bell for a kill. Bell ended the set with an ace for the 11-point win.   

USC Aiken trailed 8-3 in the fourth set, but after a timeout the team mounted a comeback, making it 10-9 on a kill from Vialdores. Smith's kill knotted it at 12-12, but neither team could break open the set. Although USC Aiken held a 19-16 lead, UNC Pembroke tied it at 22-22. However, Smith found the court for a point. Carroll and Cookey-Gam teamed up for a block before Cookey-Gam ended the closely contested match with a thunderous kill.

The Pacers return to action Tuesday when they play at Lander at 7 p.m. Live stats will be available at PacerSports.com.