University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
UNC Asheville
11-10,5-8Big South
USC Upstate
12-14,7-6Big South
Asheville Drops Five-Set Heartbreaker to USC Upstate
11.12.2024 | Women's Volleyball
SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The UNC Asheville volleyball team made its last regular season road trip on Tuesday, as the Bulldogs traveled to face the Spartans of USC Upstate. It was a back-and-forth battle in the G.B. Hodge Center, but the Spartans walked away with the victory after a five-set battle.
Set One (25-21) – Neither team opened the match with a heavy upper hand as the first set featured nine ties and four lead changes. Tied at 19, a kill by Ana Djurovic forces an Upstate side out, and Djurovic followed with another kill to give the Bulldogs a two-point advantage. Djurovic finished the night with 12 kills and 22 digs, a career-high in digs for the junior from Belgrade, Serbia. Asheville closed the set by going on a 4-1 run to take a 1-0 match lead. Albertine van der Goot had five kills, and Michelle Thao had eight digs to lead Asheville in the opening frame.
Set Two (19-25) – The Bulldogs opened the second set with a 3-0 run and led until a kill by Upstate sparked a 4-0 Spartan run (18-15). Upstate held the lead for the rest of the set to even the match 1-1.
Set Three (19-25) – It was another back-and-forth battle in the third frame, featuring nine ties and two lead changes. Trailing by three, a kill by Kylie Cackovic sparked a 3-0 run to tie the game at 11. Cackovic finished the match with 14 kills and 15 digs, her 11th double-double of the season. This would be as close as Asheville would get to the Spartans as Upstate responded with a 6-1 run to move ahead 17-12 and never look back, securing a 2-1 match lead.
Set Four (25-21) – Asheville looked to avoid the four-set defeat as the Bulldogs never trailed in the fourth frame. The Bulldogs' largest lead of the set was at seven points, following a kill from van der Goot. The Spartans tried to go on a late set run as Upstate cut Asheville's lead down to three, but back-to-back kills by van der Goot and Cackovic helped Asheville win the fourth set and send the match into a deciding fifth frame.
Set Five (13-15) – It was an all-out dogfight in the final set, featuring six ties and three lead changes. Asheville jumped out to a 2-0 start before the Spartans evened the score with two points of their own. Upstate went on to take a two-point lead (5-3) before a bad set and a kill by Lydia Pate evened the score. Pate finished the match with a game-high six block assists and a solo block. The Spartans retook a one-point lead before a kill by Payton Rolfsen, and a block assist from Rolfsen and Pate put the Bulldogs back on top. Rolfsen finished with 40 assists, 15 digs and two blocks. This would be the Bulldogs' final lead of the night as Upstate responded with a 4-0 run to take a 10-7 lead. Asheville tied the score at 12 following a 3-0 run, but the Bulldogs were unable to move back into the lead, and Upstate walked away victorious.
Team Totals — Thao finished the game with 35 digs, van der Goot had 13 kills and five block assists, and Kat Davis had 12 digs.
The team had 20 block assists and finished with 12 team blocks. Kimberly Czepukaitis had four assists, following Pate and van der Goot, and also had six kills.
Upstate had 10 more kills than Asheville (66-56), while Asheville had 12 fewer attack errors (20-32). The Bulldogs finished with a .176 attack percentage, while Upstate had a .153.
Up next – Asheville closes out its regular season on Saturday, Nov. 16, as the Bulldogs host USC Upstate in the Justice Center on the campus of UNC Asheville. Saturday's match starts at 2 p.m., and prior to the match, the Bulldogs will recognize their graduating seniors.
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