USC Aiken volleyball drops heartbreaker in NCAA Tournament
Dec. 2—ANDERSON 3, USC AIKEN 2
WINGATE, N.C. — The USC Aiken volleyball team couldn't hang on to a two-sets-to-none lead and was eliminated by Anderson in five sets Friday night in the first round of the NCAA Southeast Region Tournament.
The Pacers (16-11), the No. 5 seed in the region, posted 25-17 and 25-21 wins in the first two sets to take a commanding lead. Fourth-seeded Anderson, however, countered to take the next two sets, 25-18 and 25-16.
USCA led 11-5 in the first-to-15 fifth set, but Anderson (26-5) rallied to score 12 of the next 16 points to take the set, 17-15, and the match.
The Pacers were led by Lexi Rogers' double-double with a match-best 17 kills to go along with 12 digs. She added three blocks and a pair of aces. Emily Lammers and Kaitlyn Rodriguez each had double-double efforts. Lammers posted 12 kills and 15 digs while Rodriguez tallied 12 kills and 14 digs as well as a pair of aces.
Gyöngyvér Araczki added eight kills while hitting .438. She had a solo block and an ace. Alisha Pitt had seven kills and four blocks. Mallory Barash tallied a double-double with 46 assists and 15 digs while Kari Mercer had 15 digs, six assists and a match-best four aces.
USCA jumped out to a 4-1 lead in the first frame. Tied at 1-1, Pitt slammed home a kill. Rogers served up an ace before Lammers found the court for a point. The Trojans built a 10-7 lead but Rogers answered the bell with a kill. Araczki pulled the team within one on an ace before a ball handling error knotted the score at 10-10. The Pacers regained the edge when Barash and Pitt stuffed an attack for a block.
The back-and-forth affair saw Anderson lead 16-15. Rogers knotted the contest on a kill and gave the visitors the lead for good on an ace. Lammers followed it up with a kill for a two-point margin. Pitt and Rodriguez each accounted for kills for a 20-16 advantage. Up 20-17, an error by the Trojans gave the side-out back to the Pacers. Mercer found the corner of the court and served up a pair of aces. After a time-out, Rodriguez found the court for a kill before Mercer registered her third ace of the frame for the 25-17 victory.
Tied at 3-3 in the second frame, Araczki unleashed a thunderous kill for the lead. Barash recorded back-to-back points for a three-point margin. Anderson pulled within one a few times. Leading 13-12, Rodriguez sliced the defense for a point. Rogers and Araczki followed it with kills. After AU pulled within two at 23-21, a service error gave USCA the serve. Seconds later, Rogers slammed the door on the Trojans with a powerful kill.
AU won the third and fourth sets and seemed to have momentum, but the Pacers came out with an abundance of energy in the deciding frame. Rogers started it off with a kill and Rodriguez followed suit. Up 2-1, an error by the Trojans made it 3-1. Mercer posted an ace and Lammers tallied a kill for a four-point advantage.
Leading 8-5, Barash befuddled the entire gymnasium with her no-look campfire kill. A miscue by AU and a block from Barash and Pitt extended the score to 11-5 but the designated home team rattled off three points, forcing a time-out. The Trojans added three more points after the break for a 12-11 lead. Rogers tied the set with a kill. An AU error gave USCA the lead but the Trojans scored two straight points. Lammers knotted the score at 14-14. Trailing by one, Barash found Lammers to tie the contest once again. However, AU managed to pull out the win by netting the final two points.
