CLINTON, S.C. – The Presbyterian College Blue Hose volleyball team (8-13, BSC:6-4) beat USC Upstate (11-11, BSC: 4-6) on Friday, October 27 after four sets, 3-1 (20-25, 26-24, 25-22, 25-17), in another Big South Conference matchup.
 
"Nice to get back on the winning side at home." Presbyterian head coach Steve Benson said. "A little unsteady in the first set on first ball contact. The rest of the match we got better at our passing, our serving, and we adjusted to what they did which really helped us secure the last three sets."
 
How it Happened vs USC Upstate
In the first set the score was 3-2 with PC leading by one, before USC Upstate rallied for four points in a row. A kill from Kasey Battle ended the Spartans point streak and gave the Blue Hose their fourth point of the set. USC Upstate was leading 8-4 when the Blue Hose took four of the next seven points behind kills from Ashley Miller, Jordan McAda, and two from Hannah Rowe. This clipped the Spartans lead down to only two-points with a score of 10-8. USC Upstate was able to grab seven of the next nine points, which brought their lead up to seven at a score of 17-10. The Blue Hose fought back taking five of the next seven points behind three PC kills and a service ace by Kinsey Bailey. USC Upstate scored a few more before Presbyterian went on a four-point streak which made the score 22-19, Spartans lead. Rowe took a last-minute kill to put Presbyterian at 20 points, but it wasn't enough as USC Upstate won the first-set 25-20.
 
The Blue Hose won the race to four-points, led by a kill from Rowe, but the Spartans answered with four-points of their own, which tied the set at four apiece. Another kill from Rowe put PC up by one point, but USC Upstate took the next five points which gave them a four-point lead with a score of 9-5. After a lot of back and forth, the Blue Hose were down 22-18 before they rallied for five consecutive points, with a kill from Bailey and a service ace from Courtney Aulbaugh, which tied the set at 22 apiece. The Spartans took their lead back after they scored the next two points, but after being down 24-22, some USC Upstate errors, a kill from Rowe, and a service ace from Sophia Del Valle gave Presbyterian set two with a score of 26-24.
 
The third set started off in Presbyterian's favor 4-1 after kills by Battle and Rowe. After some back and forth the Blue Hose hold their three-point lead with a score of 8-5. Two more kills from Rowe put the score at 11-7, but USC Upstate rallied for the next six consecutive points which gave them a 13-11 lead. PC answered and took back the lead 17-15 after winning six of the next nine points behind a pair of kills from both Julia Yurkovich and Battle. The Spartans took the next three-points, before Presbyterian won five of the next six points, led by two kills from Rowe, which gave them back the lead with a score of 22-19. USC Upstate scored three more points before the Blue Hose won set three with a score of 25-22.
 
PC started off set number four with a 3-2 lead before USC Upstate won four points in a row which gave them a 6-3 lead. The Blue Hose answered when they scored five of the next seven points which tied the score at eight points apiece. After some back and forth the Blue Hose took eight of the next 10 points behind two PC service aces and two kills from Battle. These Presbyterian efforts gave them a six-point lead with a score of 19-13. The Spartans took the next three-points but Presbyterian answered with four of their own led by a kill from Rowe. USC Upstate scored one more point before the Blue Hose ended the match with a fourth set score of 25-17.
 
Notables
Hannah Rowe recorded 17 kills and 2 service aces while hitting at .279 percent.
Kasey Battle had 13 kills and 4 block assists with a .333 hitting percentage
Hailey Grocholski tallied 8 block assists and 1 solo block.
Jordan McAda recorded 5 block assists and 2 solo blocks.
 
Up Next
The Blue Hose continue Big South Conference play at home with a match against the UNC Asheville Bulldogs on Saturday, October 28 at 2:00 p.m.