CHARLESTON, S.C. - The Presbyterian College volleyball team suffered a 3-0 defeat in its Big South Conference opener Saturday evening by scores of 25-16, 25-22 and 25-20.

The Blue Hose fall to 5-10 on the season and 0-1 in Big South Conference play.

Leading the way for PC were juniors Amanda Kettles and Lisa Shelley and rookie Presley Mabrey, who each tallied nine kills. Mabrey garnered a team-best .208 attack percentage while Kettles chipped in a .158 percentage and Shelley chimed in at .133.

Freshman Allison Brown was the only other Blue Hose student-athlete to notch more than one kill. Brown added four in the contest.

Junior Kilee Ruppe dished out a team-high 28 assists. Defensively, Ashley Dunlap and Elizabeth Heineman posted team bests of eight digs apiece. Ruppe and Kettles teamed up for two block assists each while Paige Palanica added a solo stuff in the losing effort.

CSU jumped out of the gate in the first set with a 10-3 lead. The Blue Hose battled back to make it 15-10 on an attack error by Amanda Hill, but PC then served the ball into the net, giving the home team a side-out and another point. The closest the Blue Hose could get the rest of the first set was six points as the Lady Bucs won 25-16.

The teams battled to a six-all tie through the first 12 points in the second set as Brown and Shelley posted back-to-back kills to even the score. However, the Lady Bucs reeled off four straight points for a 10-6 advantage. Head coach Chris Belshe's team climbed back into the set, using a 3-0 spurt as Brown posted a kill followed by Ruppe and Kettles stuffing Hill's attempt. Another attack error by the Lady Bucs made the score 11-10. However, CSU scored the next five for a 16-10 lead.

PC countered with a 7-2 run as Palanica and Shelley added kills while the Lady Bucs continued to make mistakes.  

Kettles' kill made the score 22-21 in favor of the home team and the squads then traded points. However, a service error gave the home team set point. Another PC mistake ended the set with the Lady Bucs taking the 25-22 win.

PC took a 10-8 lead in the third set on a kill by Kettles. After CSU tied the set, the Blue Hose ran off back-to-back points for a two-point lead. The teams continued battling back-and-forth with PC taking a 19-17 lead on Mabrey's kill.

CSU scored the next five points for a 22-19 advantage. PC was unable to cut into the lead, eventually falling by a 25-20 score.

The Blue Hose will stay on the road on Tuesday as they travel to nearby Gardner-Webb for a 7 p.m., showdown.