CHARLESTON, S.C. - After their dominant conference win last Tuesday night, the CSU volleyball crew returned to their home floor in the Buc Dome Friday evening to take on the Spartans of USC Upstate.
The Bucs began the first set a little cold, resulting in Upstate starting out with an early lead. Although both teams went back and forth without one noticeably outperforming the other, Upstate's early lead resulted in a 25-19 first set finish in favor of the Spartans.
Head Coach Carry Brown's squad carried their energy from the back half of the first set into sets number two and three. The Bucs were victorious in both sets, with final set scores of 25-19 and 25-17, and walked into the fourth set of the conference battle with a chance to win consecutive conference matches.
The fourth set was easily the tightest set of the night. Every pair of eyes in Buccaneer Fieldhouse was locked onto the court, and the light of victory was peeping through the end of the tunnel. From start to finish CSU and Upstate traded points, and it all came down to the final moments when CSU had a true opportunity to potentially seal the deal. The Spartans led the set 21-18, and the fight that the CSU coaching staff has been encouraging all season began to be displayed. A block and two kills by Brenna Rowland put the VolleyBucs right back into the set with it all tied up at 21. The two squads would trade kills until the set's finish, which ultimately resulted in a 25-23 Upstate steal.
With it all tied up, both squads had a clean and even fifty-fifty chance to take home the win, and just like the previous set, it could not get any closer. Julia Fledderjohn and Ilaria Durante, along with the rest of the players on the court, were diving all over the floor to keep the match alive, but it would only almost be enough with USC Upstate claiming the match on the road (16-14).
The match's outcome was not what the team had hoped to take home, but on the stat sheet, the VolleyBucs impressed.
Brenna Rowland's 8 total blocks was one shy of her career high. Illaria Durante's 50 assists was only two short of her career best. Emily Struckmeyer's positive leadership, along with her .462 attacking percentage was a huge help in CSU's five-set fight. Sophomore Faith Burch saw some additional success on the offensive attack, adding 13 kills to her season total. True freshman Naya Martinez reached double figures in digs for the first time in her career (10), but the biggest statistical story of the night was the Hedgesville, West Virginia native, Skylar Yates. Yates came into Friday's match with 193 kills on the season, only needing seven more to eclipse the 200 kill mark for her third consecutive year. She not only got seven, Yates tallied up 22 kills which is only one shy of her career high. Not only did she dominate on the offensive effort, she also led the crew in digs with 23 on the night. Yates now sits with 215 season kills under her belt, and if her production continues, she could certainly eclipse her career high in total kills in a season (287 in 2022).
Luckily, the VolleyBucs have a near opportunity to return to their home court and secure another victory. Saturday (Oct. 19) afternoon, the Bucs will host UNC Asheville in what they hope will be their second conference win in only five days.
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