Sept. 4, 2007

Final Stats|Photo Gallery

ATHENS, Ga. - The USC Upstate volleyball team fell 3-0 (30-19, 30-9, 30-11) to Georgia in non-conference action at the University of Georgia Volleyball Arena on Tuesday night. Upstate drops to 2-5 with the loss while Georgia improves to 7-0.

Upstate got out to a 4-3 lead in the first game after an ace from sophomore Katie Downey (Belleville, Ill./Belleville West), but Georgia took control, going on an 23-9 run to take a 26-13 before Upstate closes the gap by going on its own 6-3 run keyed by a Downey block. The Spartans posted 10 kills and just six errors, but Georgia's .344 hitting percentage in the game was too much to overcome.

Sophomore Jesicah Ambrisco (Iowa City, Iowa/Regina Catholic) led the team with three kills in the game and sophomore Morgan Bucciferro (Minooka, Ill./Minooka Community) added four assists. Junior Holly Mauldin (Columbia, S.C./Irmo) added three assists in the game and both Downey and junior Jenna Leslie (Houston, Texas/Westfield) added aces.

Georgia came out strong in the second game, going on a 16-2 run to start the game en route to a 30-9 win. The Bulldogs hit .462 in the game to lead to the win.

Georgia opened up a 11-0 lead in the third game and Upstate couldn't recover, although it did come back to score 11 of the last 30 points in the match. The Spartan defense napped to life late in the match, posting three blocks in the final game.

Ambrisco led the Spartans with five kills and Bucciferro added a team-high six assists. Downey led the team with a solo block and three assisted blocks and freshman Megan Healey (St. Louis, Mo./Ursuline Academy) led the team in digs for the seventh straight time, finishing with nine.

Maria Taylor led the Bulldogs with 18 kills and eight blocks as the Bulldogs hit .411 during the match.

The Spartans will get back in action on Friday, Sept. 14, when they travel to the Spikefest Tournament at South Carolina State, beginning with a 12:30 p.m. match against the tournament hosts.