University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
Bulldogs and Spartans set to begin 2025 portion of Ingles I-26 Rivalry Series
01.13.2025 | General, Athletics News
ASHEVILLE, N.C. – As the calendar turns to 2025, Big South Conference rivals UNC Asheville and USC Upstate are set to battle again in the year-long Ingles I-26 Rivalry Series. The two combatants, separated by just 65 miles, will compete for one of college athletics' newest trophies in 2024-25. The Bulldogs took the inaugural competition last year, and through the first six events of the year, the series is tied at nine points each. The rivalry series took on deeper meaning this fall in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene. As the UNC Asheville campus and community recovered from the historic flooding and damage, USC Upstate hosted a pair of Asheville's home volleyball matches and both UNC Asheville men's and women's soccer programs' senior nights in Spartanburg.
As they did a year ago, the Spartans and Bulldogs are competing throughout the year utilizing a point system awarding on-field success, providing each program the opportunity for bonus points, and providing the community an opportunity to help each program score points while helping battle food insecurity in Spartanburg and Asheville.
The 2024-25 edition of the Ingles I-26 Rivalry began on October 19, 2024, on the women's soccer pitch, and thus far, women's soccer, men's and women's cross country, men's soccer, and volleyball have battled to a mid-year draw with nine points earned for each school. Points are tracked throughout the year, and last year, UNC Asheville took the hardware with a final point total of 31 to USC Upstate's 29.
Three points will be awarded per regular-season victory in men's basketball, women's basketball, women's soccer, men's soccer, volleyball, and baseball. An additional three points will be awarded to the school with the highest finish at the Big South Championship in men's cross country, women's cross country, men's indoor track and field, women's indoor track and field, men's outdoor track and field, women's outdoor track and field, and women's golf.
Bonus points are also up for grabs with ties to long-standing donation programs sponsored by Ingles. In basketball, the school with the most three-pointers made by their men's basketball and women's basketball teams earns one point per program. Ingles makes a $3 contribution to the Helene Disaster Relief Fund for each three-pointer made by both teams.
On the baseball diamond, a bonus point will be awarded to the respective pitching staff with the most strikeouts during the season. Again, Ingles makes a $1 contribution to a local charity on behalf of the Bulldogs.
The community has the opportunity to earn their school three additional bonus points as the Universities sponsor food drives in Kimmel Arena and the G. B. Hodge Center. The Food Drive will begin on January 15 and run through February 12. With a 31-29 final last year, the three points earned by the Bulldogs in the Food Drive proved to be a factor in the championship. Take a look back at last year's scores here.
WHAT THEY'RE SAYING
Matt Martin, Vice Chancellor and Director of Athletics, USC Upstate
The first year of the Ingles I-26 Rivalry certainly lived up to the hype, coming down to the very final competition this past spring. We'd like to congratulate UNC Asheville on winning the inaugural competition, and we look forward to beginning year two and hopefully evening the score! A huge thank you to Melissa Leavell and our friends at Ingles for all their support in stewarding this great rivalry while also positively impacting our communities.
Janet R. Cone, Senior Administrator for University Enterprises and Director of Athletics, UNC Asheville
Having won the inaugural Ingles I-26 Rivalry, our Bulldogs are even more motivated to keep the trophy in Asheville! We have much respect for the USC Upstate Spartans and know they will be bringing their "A" game each time we compete. As we saw last year, each competition is so important to the overall outcome, and our Bulldogs are ready for the rivalry competition to begin this week. On behalf of our Bulldogs, I also want to thank Ingles, Melissa Leavell, and her team for making this competition possible.
As they did a year ago, the Spartans and Bulldogs are competing throughout the year utilizing a point system awarding on-field success, providing each program the opportunity for bonus points, and providing the community an opportunity to help each program score points while helping battle food insecurity in Spartanburg and Asheville.
The 2024-25 edition of the Ingles I-26 Rivalry began on October 19, 2024, on the women's soccer pitch, and thus far, women's soccer, men's and women's cross country, men's soccer, and volleyball have battled to a mid-year draw with nine points earned for each school. Points are tracked throughout the year, and last year, UNC Asheville took the hardware with a final point total of 31 to USC Upstate's 29.
Three points will be awarded per regular-season victory in men's basketball, women's basketball, women's soccer, men's soccer, volleyball, and baseball. An additional three points will be awarded to the school with the highest finish at the Big South Championship in men's cross country, women's cross country, men's indoor track and field, women's indoor track and field, men's outdoor track and field, women's outdoor track and field, and women's golf.
Bonus points are also up for grabs with ties to long-standing donation programs sponsored by Ingles. In basketball, the school with the most three-pointers made by their men's basketball and women's basketball teams earns one point per program. Ingles makes a $3 contribution to the Helene Disaster Relief Fund for each three-pointer made by both teams.
On the baseball diamond, a bonus point will be awarded to the respective pitching staff with the most strikeouts during the season. Again, Ingles makes a $1 contribution to a local charity on behalf of the Bulldogs.
The community has the opportunity to earn their school three additional bonus points as the Universities sponsor food drives in Kimmel Arena and the G. B. Hodge Center. The Food Drive will begin on January 15 and run through February 12. With a 31-29 final last year, the three points earned by the Bulldogs in the Food Drive proved to be a factor in the championship. Take a look back at last year's scores here.
WHAT THEY'RE SAYING
Matt Martin, Vice Chancellor and Director of Athletics, USC Upstate
The first year of the Ingles I-26 Rivalry certainly lived up to the hype, coming down to the very final competition this past spring. We'd like to congratulate UNC Asheville on winning the inaugural competition, and we look forward to beginning year two and hopefully evening the score! A huge thank you to Melissa Leavell and our friends at Ingles for all their support in stewarding this great rivalry while also positively impacting our communities.
Janet R. Cone, Senior Administrator for University Enterprises and Director of Athletics, UNC Asheville
Having won the inaugural Ingles I-26 Rivalry, our Bulldogs are even more motivated to keep the trophy in Asheville! We have much respect for the USC Upstate Spartans and know they will be bringing their "A" game each time we compete. As we saw last year, each competition is so important to the overall outcome, and our Bulldogs are ready for the rivalry competition to begin this week. On behalf of our Bulldogs, I also want to thank Ingles, Melissa Leavell, and her team for making this competition possible.
| Date | Event | Final | USC Upstate | UNC Asheville |
| 10/19/24 | W. Soccer (at UNC AVL) | 2-0 UPST | Leads 3-0 | |
| 11/1/24 | Cross Country Championship (Men) | 3rd UNC AVL 6th UPST |
Series Tied | |
| 11/1/24 | Cross Country Championship (Women) | 4th UNC AVL 6th UPST |
Leads 6-3 | |
| 11/2/24 | M. Soccer (at UPST) | 4-1 UNC AVL | Leads 9-3 | |
| 11/12/24 | Volleyball (at UPST) | 3-2 UPST | Leads 9-6 | |
| 11/16/24 | Volleyball (at UNC AVL) | 3-1 UPST | Series Tied, 9-9 | |
| 1/15/25 | W. Basketball (at UPST) | 60-57 UPST | UPST leads, 12-9 | |
| 1/15/25 | M. Basketball (at UNC AVL) | 93-92 UNC AVL | Series Tied, 12-12 | |
| 2/12/25 | W. Basketball (at UNC AVL) | 60-51 UPST | UPST leads, 15-12 | |
| 2/12/25 | M. Basketball (at UPST) | 92-85 UNC AVL | Series Tied, 15-15 | |
| 2/13/25 | BONUS POINT (3): Canned Food Drive Donations | 459-339 UPST | UPST leads, 18-15 | |
| 3/1/25 | Indoor Track Championship (Women) | UPST 5TH UNC AVL 6TH |
UPST leads, 21-15 | |
| 3/1/25 | Indoor Track Championship (Men) | UPST 3RD UNC AVL 4TH |
UPST leads, 24-15 | |
| 3/11/25 | BONUS POINT (1): Men's Basketball 3-point shots made | UNC AVL 255 UPST 222 |
UPST leads, 24-16 | |
| 3/11/25 | BONUS POINT (1): Women's Basketball 3-point shots made | UNC AVL 164 UPST 148 |
UPST leads, 24-17 | |
| 4/15/25 | Women's Golf Championship | UNC AVL 4TH UPST 5TH |
UPST leads 24-20 | |
| 5/14/25 | Outdoor Track Championship (Women) | |||
| 5/14/25 | Outdoor Track Championship (Men) | |||
| 5/15/25 | Baseball (at UNC AVL) | |||
| 5/16/25 | Baseball (at UNC AVL) | |||
| 5/17/25 | Baseball (at UNC AVL) | |||
| 5/25/25 | BONUS POINT (1): Pitching strikeouts recorded |
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