USC Aiken Sweeps UNC Pembroke; Reaches Tournament Championship

GREENWOOD, S.C. -- Top-seeded USC Aiken hit .325 as a team and advance to the PBC Tournament championship game with their 3-0 win over UNC Pembroke on Friday night. The Lady Pacers (25-4) committed only 13 errors in their 120 attacks and collected eight team blocks to advance.

Four Lady Pacers reached double-figure kills as Jasmine Edney, Amanda Timm and Stephanie Durham each had 12 kills. Mandy Gerolstein added 10 kills while Lauren Cedeno had 47 assists. Durham added 16 digs to her kill totals while Veronica Seidle had 13 digs.

Rachel Young and Jessica Hartley led the Lady Braves with 10 kills each. Andrea Laza added 20 digs while Heather Fierce had 34 assists and seven digs.

UNC Pembroke held their ground against the top seed early in the first game, but USCA opened up a bit of breathing room with a 5-2 run that left them with an 11-7 lead. The Lady Pacers stretched that to 19-12 following a kill from Jasmine Edney when UNCP responded with a 10-1 run to retake the lead. UNCP led 26-25 and had upset in their eyes when the Lady Pacers, behind the serve of Veronica Seidle, ran off five straight points to take the game 30-26. Durham had two kills during that stretch, including the game-winner.

Game two was less streaky as USCA established a six-point cushion and never let the Lady Braves come any closer. A kill from Amanda Timm made the score 12-6 and the Lady Pacers were content to trade points from there on out. USC Aiken ballooned the lead to eight following a vicious kill from Gerolstein on a bad Pembroke set and the Lady Pacers went on to win 30-22, hitting .419 as a team in the game.

Game three began as a sloppy affair with neither team able to establish any kind of rhythm. Leading 14-13, USCA finally ran off four points in a row as part of a 6-2 run. Timm had two kills and USCA got aces from Edney and Durham in that stretch. UNCP fought back as they had all match long, tying the game up at 22 with three straight kills, but two straight kills from Durham coupled with two UNCP errors opened a four-point gap.

UNCP fought back from that to tie the game at 26, then again at 27. But Jasmine Edney rifled a kill cross-court, then Gerolstein added a tip that found the floor and USCA won it 30-27.

USC Aiken advances to the PBC Championship game for the second straight year where they will meet second-seeded Lander. The Championship game will begin at 2:00 in Greenwood.

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