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AIKEN, S.C. – The University of South Carolina Aiken volleyball team swept North Greenville and Florida Southern Friday in the first day of the USC Aiken Invitational.
The Pacers are now 5-0 on the season.
Against the Crusaders,
Alie Smith led everyone with 12 kills while hitting .417.
Christine Carroll added 11 kills to go along with four blocks.
Kayla Duggan hit .400 while smashing eight kills.
Alli Bell dished out a match-best 28 assists while
Mallory Barash chipped in six assists.
Defensively,
Rebecca Martinez totaled a match-best 18 digs. Duggan totaled 12 digs while
Kari Mercer contributed nine digs.
Leading 11-7 in the first frame, head coach
Glenn Cox's team reeled off five straight points to break open the contest. The final points on the run came via a block from Duggan and
Abbey Schad as the Pacers cruised to the 25-14 win.
In set two, a ball handling error by NGU made it 10-2 in favor of the home squad. USC Aiken stretched the margin to 15-5 on an ace by Schade en route to the 25-15 victory.
With Martinez at the service line, the Pacers embarked on seven straight points. Carroll, Duggan, Schad and Smith had kills in the spurt. Up 24-17,
Ashlyn Hill closed the match with a thunderous kill off a pass from Barash.
In the nightcap, Carroll slammed home 15 kills while hitting .750, which is the third-best mark in school history. She did not commit an error. Smith accounted for eight kills while Duggan totaled seven kills.
Bell distributed a match-high 29 assists and Martinez tallied six.
Defensively, Martinez led everyone with 22 digs while Smith and Duggan accounted for 12 and 11 digs respectively. At the net, Schad was in on three blocks, including one of the solo variety.
Trailing 24-22 in the first set, a service error by the Mocs allowed the Pacers to pull within one at 24-23. Back-to-back attack errors made it 25-24 in favor of the home team. Tied at 25, Smith found the court before another visiting miscue gave USC Aiken the 27-25 win.
USC Aiken found itself down 11-6 in the second stanza before Duggan hammered home a kill. Three straight mistakes by the Mocs made it 11-10 before Schad tied it up off a kill from Bell. Down 19-16, Cox's group reeled off six consecutive points. Smith tallied two kills during the run while Bell and Schad had a block. Schad added a solo stuff and ended the spurt with a kill en route to the 25-21 win.
FSC once again led 18-14 in the third frame, but USC Aiken embarked on a 6-1 spurt for a 20-19 lead. Duggan recorded a dig and Bell found the court for the one-point lead. Tied at 21, the Mocs' service error broke the stalemate. Duggan slashed the defense with a kill before two consecutive errors by FSC ended the match.
The Pacers return to action Saturday when they host Lee at 12:30 p.m. Live stats and video will be available at PacerSports.com.
