AIKEN, S.C. – The University of South Carolina Aiken volleyball team split a pair of matches Friday, defeating Mount Olive 3-1 before falling to Carson-Newman 3-0.

The Pacers are now 5-1 on the season.

In the opener against Mount Olive, head coach Glenn Cox's team was paced by Emily Lammers' double-double effort of 14 kills and 14 digs. She hit .481 in the victory. 

Sadie McKay and Abbie Schad notched 12 kills apiece while Kaitlyn Rodriguez boasted a double-double with 10 kills and 18 digs. 

Offensively, Caroline Foster dished out 30 assists while Mallory Barash added 17. Defensively, Kari Mercer totaled a match-best 32 digs to lead the charge. In addition to Rodriguez and Lammers being in double digits, McKay garnered a double-double with 13 digs. McKay led the match with three aces.

In the first set, USC Aiken knotted it in the back-and-forth affair at 24-24. Tied at 27-27, Schad slammed home a kill before an error by the visitors gave USC Aiken a 29-27 win.

In the second set, Cox's team held a 21-20 lead before an error put it at 22-20. McKay's kill pushed the margin to 23-20. Leading 23-22, Lammers finished the set with back-to-back kills.

After dropping the third frame, USC Aiken pulled away after the match was at 7-6 en route to the 25-13 win. Up 21-13, Alisha Pitt found the back corner for a kill. Lammers promptly served up an ace. Back-to-back errors finished up the match. 

Against Carson-Newman, Schad led the team with 12 kills. Pitt garnered eight kills while McKay chipped in six. 

Barash and Foster had 15 assists apiece. 

Defensively, Mercer led everyone with 19 digs while Lammers amassed 15. McKay and Rodriguez accounted for 11 digs apiece. 

The Pacers return to action tomorrow when they host Francis Marion and North Greenville starting at 12:30 p.m. Live stats and video will be available at PacerSports.com.