AIKEN, S.C. - Lander held on to defeat USC Aiken 3-1 Friday night to extend the Bearcats' winning streak to nine games. The win snaps a five-match losing streak to the Pacers, and it is the first win over Aiken on the road since 2008.  

Trailing 7-5 in the first set, the Bearcats scored three-straight points to take the lead. Later in the set, the Pacers tied the score at 19, but Lander outscored Aiken 6-4 to take the set. 

USC Aiken took a 9-7 lead in the second set, but Lander used a Pacer service error, attack error, and a service ace by Katie Miller to take a 10-9 lead. The teams battled back and forth, with neither team leading by more than two points, until Lander used a 5-0 run to take a 22-18 lead. Leading 24-23, the Pacers scored four of the next five points to take the set 27-25. 

Lander held off a late Pacer rally in the third set and won 25-19 to put themselves one set away from victory. Neither team backed down in the fourth set, as the lead changed several times. With the Bearcats leading 14-13, Lander outscored Aiken 4-1 to take an 18-14 lead and go on to a 25-20 win to take the victory and improve to 3-0 in conference play. 

Katie Miller led all players with 21 kills and 11 digs, while Olivia Dow added seven kills. Madilyn Reed dished out a game-high 36 assists with 12 digs for a double-double and had three aces. Annie Holesinger had a season-high seven blocks, and Dow had five. Patricia Pantoja had 23 digs.

The teams will meet again tomorrow at 1:00 pm. 

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