AUGUSTA, Ga. – The fifth-seeded University of South Carolina Aiken volleyball team took down No. 1 Augusta Friday evening in the PBC Semifinals by a 3-1 score.
The Pacers improve to 19-12 on the season while the Jaguars stand at 24-7. This marks the first PBC Finals appearance for USC Aiken since the 2015 season.
Set scores were 25-22, 23-25, 28-26, 25-18.
Head coach
Glenn Cox's team was led by
Emily Lammers' double-double effort with a career and match-high 27 kills to go along with 16 digs.
Kaitlyn Rodriguez garnered 12 kills to go along with 11 digs for a double-double.
Sadie McKay and
Anna Sommer tallied seven kills apiece. McKay chipped in 13 digs in the victory.
Mallory Barash dished out 44 assists to go along with 16 digs and a match-best four aces in the win. She also notched four kills.
Kari Mercer led the defense with a match-best 24 digs and narrowly missed out on a double-double with nine assists.
Trailing 6-5 in the first set, Cox's team embarked on a 4-0 run. After an attack error knotted the score, McKay found the court twice prior to Barash serving up an ace for a 9-6 lead. Leading 12-10, Barash took a pass from Lammers for a kill. Moments later, Sommer's slam made it 15-11. Up 15-14,
Brooke Wroten hammered home a kill. Two plays later, Barash posted back-to-back aces for a 19-14 advantage. USC Aiken led 22-20 before Barash sliced the defense with a kill. A kill from Barash ended the set 25-22.
After dropping the second set 25-23, the Pacers bounced back in the third frame. Trailing 15-8 in the third stanza, USC Aiken responded with back-to-back kills from Lammers. An error made it 15-11. However, the Jaguars led 22-14 and increased the margin to 24-16. However, a service error by the home team started a run of historic proportions for the Pacers.
With Barash serving, Lammers notched back-to-back kills. An ace from Barash made it 24-20. Three straight errors by the Jaguars made it 24-23. A kill from McKay knotted the score at 24-24 and an error gave the Pacers a one-point edge. However, Augusta netted the next two points for a 26-25 lead. Then, USC Aiken went back to the all-conference performer for back-to-back points and a 27-26 lead. An error by Augusta gave the Pacers the 28-26 win.
Leading 11-9 in the fourth set, USC Aiken went on a 9-2 run. During the spurt, Rodriguez had a kill while Lammers added four points. Up 21-17, Lammers found the court once again. Two plays later, Rodriguez pushed the score to 24-17. With the score at 24-18, Rodriguez sent the Pacers to the PBC Final with a thunderous kill.
The Pacers return to action Saturday against No. 3 Flagler at Augusta for the PBC Championship. The match is slated to start at 1 p.m. Live stats and video will be available at PacerSports.com.
