HICKORY, N.C. – The University of South Carolina Aiken volleyball team lost a 3-2 match at Lenoir-Rhyne Saturday.

The Pacers are now 2-1 on the season.

Set scores were 25-20, 26-28, 18-25, 25-23, 10-15.

Head coach Glenn Cox's team was led by Sadie McKay's 15 kills and eight digs. Emily Lammers, Lexi Rogers and Mallory Barash all had double-double efforts. Lammers posted 14 kills to go along with 20 digs while Rogers notched 11 kills, 16 digs, three aces and two blocks.

Barash distributed 49 assists to go along with 16 digs. She added five kills. Defensively, Kari Mercer registered 32 digs. She added five assists and a kill.

In the first set, Lammers extended the lead to 7-2 on an ace. Up 9-7, Rogers hammered home a kill. An ace by Barash and a block from Lammers and Sommer made it 12-7. Moments later, back-to-back errors by the Bears and an ace from Rogers pushed the margin to seven, 15-8. L-R pulled within two at 20-18, forcing a time-out from Cox. After the break, a miscue by the home team and another ace from Rogers made it 22-18. Leading 22-20, USC Aiken took a three-point edge off an error. After another error by the Bears, McKay ended the set with a kill.

Trailing 4-2 in the early going of the second frame, Alisha Pitt found the court for a point. McKay followed it up with back-to-back kills for a 5-4 edge. Up 7-6, Barash had a kill. Izabella De Lima followed that up with back-to-back aces for a 10-6 advantage. USC Aiken led 21-17 but the Bears managed to fight back and knot the score at 21-21. The squads traded points and L-R eventually pulled out a 28-26 victory.

After dropping the third stanza, the Pacers bounced back in the fourth. Tied at 3-3, an error gave the visitors the point. Lammers crushed a shot before Rogers tallied an ace. Anna Sommer notched a kill before McKay slammed home three straight points for a 10-3 lead. Despite holding a 12-3 advantage, USC Aiken saw the Bears claw their way back into the set, tying it at 22-22. McKay answered with back-to-back kills but L-R pulled within one. However, Barash forced a fifth set with a kill.

USC Aiken fell behind 12-3 in the fifth set before Gyöngyvér Araczki garnered back-to-back kills. Lammers followed that up with a point.  Block from Barash and an ace by McKay made it 12-8 and forced a time-out by the home squad. Down 14-8, Barash tallied a kill. An error by the Bears made it 14-10 but that was as close as the team could get in the 15-10 loss.

The Pacers return to action Friday when they host Belmont Abbey at 11 a.m., in the first match of the USC Aiken Invitational. Live stats and video will be available at PacerSports.com.