AIKEN, S.C. – The USCA volleyball team picked up a pair of victories on Friday, defeating Shorter and Carson-Newman by 3-2 scores.
The Pacers are now 5-0 on the season.
Against Shorter, head coach
Glenn Cox's team trailed 8-5 before a miscue by the Hawks gave the side-out to USCA.
Rusne Radaviciute served up an ace and
Lexi Rogers slammed home a kill, forcing a time-out. Radaviciute served up another ace, pushing the score to 12-8. Leading 15-14, Rogers posted a kill. That sparked a 10-2 spurt to clinch the frame. During the run, Rogers served up four aces, including three in a row.
The Pacers had a back-and-forth second set. Neither team could gain much of an advantage. Tied at 19-19, an error gave the home squad a one-point lead. Radaviciute and
Chloe Duzenack each had kills. However, the Hawks tied the frame at 24-24. Tied at 25-25,
Avery Pearson recorded a block and Duzenack finished the set with a kill.
After Shorter won the next two frames, the Pacers took a 9-5 lead on an error by Shorter. The Hawks battled back to knot the score at 11-11 and then 12-12. Tied, Radaviciute hammered home a kill. Duzenack followed her up with a kill and
Madison Fox found Radaviciute who promptly finished off the match with a thunderous kill.
For the match, Duzenack hammered home 23 kills. Radaviciute accounted for a double-double with 10 kills and 13 digs as did Rogers with 10 kills and 15 digs.
Olivia Miller had nine kills while
Avery Pearson totaled six kills and five blocks.
Fox dished out 28 assists and had 13 digs while
Olivia Moffett notched 19 assists and two blocks. Defensively,
Kira Bostick posted a career-high 36 digs. It marked the eighth-most digs in a five-set match in school history. Duzenack had four total blocks.
Against Carson-Newman, USCA fell behind 3-2 before a 5-1 spurt propelled the team to a 7-4 edge. The back-and-forth frame saw the teams tied at 14-14. Two errors by C-N and a kill from Bishop, along with an ace from
Bailey Corrigan, gave Cox's squad an 18-14 lead. Leading 22-19, Miller took a pass from Moffett and found the court. Moments later, Corrigan completed the set with a kill.
After USCA lost 27-25 in set two, the squad rebounded in the ensuing stanza. The team gained a 6-3 lead thanks in part to a block from Bishop and Pearson and a kill by Duzenack. Leading 9-8, the home squad scored four of the next five points, including three straight points from Rogers. Up 13-10, Cox's team went on a 6-0 spurt. Bishop was in on three points as was Pearson. Miller and Rogers recorded the final two kills in the 25-16 win.
The Eagles forced a fifth set, but USCA jumped out to a 6-1 advantage. During the run, Bishop had two kills and Rogers had a pair of aces. Duzenack and Miller had kills, giving the Pacers a 10-3 lead. USCA maintained a solid margin and Pearson finished the match with a kill.
For the match, Duzenack posted a team-high 14 kills and recorded 24 digs.
Alli Bishop accounted for 16 kills and 14 digs while Rogers tallied 10 kills and 15 digs. Miller notched eight kills.
Fox dished out 24 assists and had nine digs while Moffett distributed 21 assists and picked up five digs.
Defensively, Bostick added 12 digs while Pearson and Bishop each totaled five blocks.
The Pacers return to action tomorrow against Lee (11 a.m.) and North Greenville (4 p.m.). Live stats and video will be available at PacerSports.com.
