AIKEN, S.C.----USC Aiken (18-3, 5-1 PBC) held off a feisty Lander (16-7, 1-5 PBC) squad in four games on Saturday afternoon in a Peach Belt Conference volleyball clash at “The Courthouse”. Game scores were 30-23, 27-30, 30-19, and 30-23.
USCA junior middle hitter Mandy Gerolstein just missed a “double double” with 10 kills and nine blocks for a team-best 16.5 points. Lander's Kay Stewart paced the Bearcat attack with 16 kills and four blocks.
With Lander leading 9-7 in tight play early in game one, USC Aiken reeled of 10-straight points highlighted by a pair of aces from Veronica Seidle to push out to a commanding 17-9 advantage. Seidle finished with three of the team's nine aces.
Following a Bearcat timeout, Lander scored nine of the next 12 points capped by a 5-0 run off of Sara Senn's serve to close within 20-18. After each team traded 3-0 spurts, the Lady Pacers regained control with a 6-1 run to extend the margin to 29-22 and closed out the 30-23 win.
In game two, Lander hit .205 while holding the Lady Pacers to a .135 hitting percentage in taking the 30-27 win. The Bearcats bolted to a 5-1 advantage capped off by Jennifer Edwards' kill. But the Lady Pacers would battle back, eventually tying the game at 17-17 and taking a 23-18 advantage after a Whitney Tabbert ace finished off a 9-2 run.
Lander, however, finished strong, scoring 12 of the final 16 points to even the match at 1-1.
The Lady Pacers opened hot in game three with an 8-2 lead. Marina Camps served up her only ace of the match, one of the team's eight on the afternoon, to pull Lander within 13-8, but USCA steadily pulled away to the 30-19 victory.
In game four, USC Aiken grabbed a 5-1 edge and never trailed. Leading 15-12, a 7-1 run opened up a 22-13 spread as the Lady Pacers won going away 30-23.
Amanda Timm tallied a team-high 12 kills while Missy Deardorff added nine kills and five blocks. Stefanie Durham chipped in an all-around solid match with eight kills, four digs, three blocks, one ace, and a match-best 25 digs. Senior setter Cheryl Barcas registered 30 assists and two aces while Tabbert, a freshman, chipped in 17 assists. Shanon Sumter provided a spark off the bench with seven kills and three blocks.
Senn finished with 11 kills and 23 digs for Lander while libero Melissa Trippany tossed in 22 digs and Edwards added 40 assists and 16 digs.
