Volleyball Opens Home Slate with Pair of League Matches

CLINTON, S.C. – The Presbyterian College volleyball team opens Big South play with back-to-back matches beginning on Thursday with it's home opener against USC Upstate at 6 p.m… The Blue Hose close out the weekend with a visit from High Point on Friday night. Both matches will be shown on ESPN+ this weekend as well.

Matchup: USC Upstate (2-10) vs Presbyterian (4-8)
Date: Thursday, Sept. 22
Time: 6 pm
Site: Templeton Center (Clinton, S.C.)
Live Stats: Statbroadcast
Video: ESPN+
Twitter: @BlueHoseVolley

Matchup: High Point (7-6) vs Presbyterian
Date: Friday, Sept. 23
Time: 6 pm
Site: Templeton Center (Clinton, S.C.)
Live Stats: Statbroadcast
Video: ESPN+
Twitter: @BlueHoseVolley

Notes

Last Time Out...
Sophomore Rylee Moorhead tied her career-high with 16 kills but the Presbyterian College volleyball team was unable to get past Wofford falling (22-25, 21-25, 25-12, 16-25) on Saturday afternoon at Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium. Moorhead totaled 16 kills and 13 digs while hitting at a .500 hitting percentage in the contest. Freshman Elyse Hutchinson tallied a career-high 13 kills in the defeat.

Head to Head...
PC and USC Upstate have met 17 times in the Blue Hose DI era with the Spartans taking 10 of those meetings including each of the prior three from the Blue Hose... High Point holds a 20-4 record all-time in the PC DI era with HPU winning each of the last two in Clinton 3-0...

Scouting the Spartans..
USC Upstate enters Thursday's match with a 2-10 mark after dropping 3-0 decision to Furman and Marshall in its most recent action. Asleigh Nicoll leads Upstate offensively with 100 kills as Briana Strobert has tallied 70 kills on the season hitting at a .304 clip. Emma McElveen is one of two Spartans with 100+ assists as she leads the way with 199 as Kayla Spangler sits with an even 100. Jaci Drinnnon leads USC Upstate with 138 digs on the season.

Scouting the Panthers...
High Point sits with a record of 7-6 after falling in it's most recent action to Houston and #1 Texas. The Panthers have faced the #1 Longhorns along with #6 Wisconsin and #24 Marquette. HPU is led offensively by Sydney Palazzolo who has totaled 175 kills, while Dylan Maberry has tallied 129 so far in 2022. Ally Van Eekeren has recorded a team-high 332 assists on the season. Jenny Wessling leads HPU on the defensive end with 173 digs with Palazzolo tallying 121 on the year. HPU was unanimously picked to win the 2022 Big South Championship led by four players on the preseason All-Conference team including Maberry, Palazzolo, Mara Miggins and Gabby Idlebird.

Hewitt Moving Up Record Book...
Junior Anna Hewitt continues to climb towards 1,000 career digs as the Blue Hose libero has totaled 123 digs for PC thus far in 2022. Hewitt has totaled 887 digs in her Blue Hose career which puts her ninth in the record book just 37 digs out of eighth place. The Alvaton, Ky. native is looking to become the sixth player in the PC DI era to reach the 1,000 dig plateau.

Blue Hose in League Openers...
PC opens its 15th Big South season on Thursday looking to record its ninth win in conference openers dating back to 2008. The Blue Hose have faced Gardner-Webb, Charleston Southern, Liberty, Coastal Carolina, Hampton, Winthrop and High Point in conference openers. PC took last year's opener over Hampton 3-1.

Blue Hose in the Ranks...
Rylee Moorhead leads the conference with 21 service aces, while Abby Sparkman is tied for fourth with 14. Anna Hewitt is tied for sixth with 13 aces... Kinsey Bailey sits sixth with 247 assists... Hailey Grocholski ranks fifth with a .291 hitting percentage on 179 swings thru 12 matches... The Blue Hose lead the conference with 81 service aces thru 2022...

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Players Mentioned

#10 Kinsey Bailey: S; 5' 10"; Sophomore

#16 Hailey Grocholski: MB; 6' 0"; Sophomore

#11 Anna Hewitt: DS/L; 5' 9"; Sophomore

#23 Abby Sparkman: DS; 5' 9"; Redshirt Sophomore

#9 Rylee Moorhead: OH; 5' 10"; Freshman

#2 Elyse Hutchinson: MB; 6' 1"; Freshman

Players Mentioned

#10 Kinsey Bailey
: 5' 10"; Sophomore
: S

#16 Hailey Grocholski
: 6' 0"; Sophomore
: MB

#11 Anna Hewitt
: 5' 9"; Sophomore
: DS/L

#23 Abby Sparkman
: 5' 9"; Redshirt Sophomore
: DS

#9 Rylee Moorhead
: 5' 10"; Freshman
: OH

#2 Elyse Hutchinson
: 6' 1"; Freshman
: MB