AIKEN, S.C. – The University of South Carolina Aiken volleyball team notched a pair of victories Friday at the USC Aiken Invitational with wins over Belmont Abbey and Lenoir-Rhyne.
Head coach
Glenn Cox earned his 300
th career victory at USC Aiken, which occurred in the nightcap against Lenoir-Rhyne.
The Pacers are now 4-1 on the season.
In the first match of the tournament, USC Aiken took down Belmont Abbey by scores of 25-19, 25-20 and 25-8.
Cox's team was led by
Sadie McKay's 13 kills.
Sophie Meredith and
Alisha Pitt each had five kills in the victory while
Kaitlyn Rodriguez added four kills. Meredith nearly had a double-double with 17 assists and eight digs.
Mallory Barash tallied 10 assists in the victory.
Defensively,
Kari Mercer led everyone with 15 digs. She also chipped in seven assists.
Overall, the Pacers hit .341 in the match, slamming home 42 kills against 11 errors.
In the first set, USC Aiken led 14-9 before
Cat Bodick notched a kill. Moments later,
Brooke Wroten took a pass from Meredith and found the court. The Pacers pushed the lead to 19-12 on a kill by Meredith. Leading 23-16,
Anna Sommer notched a kill. Sommer followed it up a few plays later for the set victory at 25-19.
In a back-and-forth affair in the second frame, USC Aiken trailed 18-16 but a service error made it 18-17. McKay tied the score with a point. Tied at 19-19, Bodick and Wroten blocked an attempt. An error by the visitors and back-to-back kills from McKay made it 23-19 en route to the 25-20 victory.
USC Aiken jumped on top with an 8-1 run to start the third stanza. Leading 4-1, Pitt slammed home a pass from Mallory Brash.
Emily Lammers and Pitt combined for a block for a seven-point margin. The Pacers extended the lead to 12 after McKay and Pitt each tallied kills. With Barash serving, the home squad led 21-6 following another kill by Pitt. USC Aiken cruised to the 25-8 win for the sweep.
In the rematch from last weekend's tournament finale, Cox's group jumped out to a 12-1 lead in the first set against Lenoir-Rhyne and never looked back. With McKay serving, the squad posted a 5-0 lead. Up 5-1, Pitt started a run that ended with a kill by Rogers for an 11-point margin. The squad held a 20-12 advantage after a miscue by the visitors en route to a 25-22 victory.
Down 7-5 in the second stanza, Rogers got things going with a kill.
Gyöngyvér Araczki tied it at 7-7. A miscue by the Bears and kills from McKay and Araczki added to the lead before Araczki and Barash extended the score to 11-7. L-R took a 19-17 lead but Rogers and McKay hammered home kills.
Tied at 22-22, Lammers gave the home squad the advantage for good with a kill. McKay served up an ace before Pitt secured the set win with a block.
The third frame was a back-and-forth affair. Trailing 8-2, two errors and a kill from Rogers made it 8-5. Down 9-5, USC Aiken embarked on a 13-2 spurt to take control. Rogers started it off before Barash and Sommer combined for a block. McKay had a kill while Rogers served up a pair of aces in the run. The contest got tight at 22-19 but McKay and Barash put some distance between the Pacers and Bears with kills. Leading 24-21, McKay finished off the match with a thunderous point.
For the match against the Bears, McKay led the way with 18 kills while hitting .429. She added 13 digs for a double-double effort. Rogers totaled 11 kills and 13 digs for a double-double while Barash garnered a double-double with 35 assists and 10 digs.
Mercer led the way with 22 digs. Defensively, Pitt tallied four blocks. McKay had three aces while Rogers registered two.
The Pacers return to action tomorrow when they host North Greenville at 1 p.m. Live stats and video will be available at PacerSports.com.
