GREENWOOD, S.C. - The University of South Carolina Aiken volleyball team lost a 3-0 decision at Lander Friday evening.
The Pacers are now 9-2 on the season and 0-1 in PBC play.
Head coach
Glenn Cox's team was led by
Gyongyver Araczki and
Emily Lammers with five kills apiece.
Sadie McKay and
Anna Sommer notched four kills each in the contest.
Mallory Barash tallied a double-double with 15 assists and 10 digs.
Sophie Meredith distributed five assists and registered two kills in the third frame.
Defensively,
Kari Mercer led everyone with 23 digs. Her final dig of the evening propelled her past Flagler's Kayla Norelli (2016-19) on the PBC all-time list. Mercer now has 2,101 digs.
USC Aiken found itself trailing 6-2 in the opening frame before
Lexi Rogers smashed a kill off a pass from Barash. After an error by the Bearcats, Lammers served up an ace. She followed it up with a kill before another error by the home team gave the Pacers a 7-6 edge and forced a time-out. Coming out of the break, the Bearcats netted five straight points.
Lander took a 19-10 lead before two miscues by the visitors and an ace from McKay pulled Cox's team within six at 19-13. Down 20-13, Lammers registered a kill and Mercer tallied an ace, but it was as close as the team could get in the 25-16 loss.
The Bearcats led 11-2 before back-to-back kills by the Pacers pulled the visitors within seven. However, that was as close as USC Aiken could get in the 25-15 set.
In the back-and-forth third set, the teams were tied multiple times in the early going but Cox's team trailed 11-8. Meredith took a pass from Rogers and found the middle of the court. An error by Lander made it 11-10. Down 12-10, Rogers smashed a kill. After a miscue by the Bearcats, Meredith served up an ace. A block by
Anna Sommer increased USC Aiken's lead to two, 14-12. Another error gave the Pacers a three-point edge, 15-12. However, Lander went on an 11-1 spurt for a 23-16 edge.
Meredith tried to keep USC Aiken in it with another kill. She found McKay for a point but Cox's team could not get any closer in the 25-19 frame.
The Pacers return to action tomorrow when they play at Lander at 3 p.m. Live stats and video will be available at PacerSports.com.