No. 4 UNC Asheville Holds Off No. 5 USC Upstate in 5 Sets
ASHEVILLE, N.C. – Fourth-seeded UNC Asheville volleyball picked up a thrilling 3-2 (25-16, 22-25, 21-25, 25-19, 15-10) come-from-behind win over fifth-seeded USC Upstate in the quarterfinals of the 2018 Big South Volleyball Championship at the Justice Center on Friday, Nov. 16, 2018. The win was UNC Asheville's 10th straight.
BOX SCORE
UNC Asheville (16-11) started the match by easily taking a 25-16 win in the first set. USC Upstate (13-19) battled back with two straight set wins to take a 2-1 lead in the match into the fourth set.
Behind a raucous home crowd the Bulldogs would not be deterred though with Asheville securing wins in the fourth and fifth sets to take the 3-2 win the match to advance to the semifinal round of the tournament against No. 1 seed High Point at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 17, at the Justice Center.
Three Bulldogs finished the win over USC Upstate with a double-double with Julia Borges leading the way with 17 kills and 16 digs. She also had three blocks and two service aces and hit .361 in the match.
Ansley Rooks finished with 15 kills and 12 digs in the Bulldog win. She hit .324 in the match and she also had two aces.
Grace Volk ended her efforts with 49 assists and 12 digs. She also had four blocks and one kill.
UNC Asheville's Cara Guthrie just missed on a double-double of her own with a team-best 19 kills and eight digs. She also had three aces and one block.
Madisen Zyburt led UNC Asheville in digs with 26. Julia Loveday collected seven blocks in the match.
Lily Dempsey finished with 21 kills and 15 digs to lead USC Upstate in its season-ending loss.
BULLDOG NOTES
First Tourney Win Since 2012
UNC Asheville's thrilling win over USC Upstate allowed the Bulldogs to pick up their first conference tournament win since 2012. UNC Asheville's last tournament win came in a 3-1 victory over High Point on Nov. 15, 2012, at the championship that was held that year at Gardner-Webb.
Strong at Home
UNC Asheville closed out its 2018 regular season home slate an impressive 9-3 at home. UNC Asheville has now won at least seven home matches in a single season for the last four seasons. Including UNC Asheville's tournament quarterfinal win over USC Upstate, the Bulldogs are 36-11 over the last four seasons at home.
10 in a Row
UNC Asheville's current 10-match winning streak is its longest winning streak since 2005. It is also the longest of the Frederico Santos era as head coach of the Bulldogs.
Double-Double it Up
Julia Borges now has four double-doubles on the season, while Ansley Rooks has collected three straight. Grace Volk now has five on the season.
That's Aces
UNC Asheville's eight aces as a team in the quarterfinal win over USC Upstate leaves the Bulldogs with four matches this season with eight or more service aces in a match.
Bulldog Block Party
UNC Asheville's 12 total team blocks against USC Upstate tied a single-match team season best.
Career-Best
Grace Volk's 49 assists in the win over USC Upstate were a career best for the Big South All-Freshman Team member.