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AUGUSTA, Ga. – In their final regular-season game of the 2017 season, the Augusta University women's volleyball team took a 2-0 lead against rival USC Aiken, but dropped the Peach Belt Conference match 3-2 on Saturday afternoon.

Augusta finishes the regular-season slate 17-14 overall and 6-6 in the PBC. USC Aiken ends the season 23-4 overall and 9-2 in the league.

Jessica Hedrick led Augusta with 15 kills, with McKenzey Beck and Chloe Allen adding 11 each. Beck also posted 28 assists, Payton Murchie had 29, and Holland Martin recorded 25 digs.

Alie Smith led all players with 20 kills for Aiken and Christine Carroll had 13.  

USC Aiken stormed to an 8-0 lead in the first set, but the Jaguars stayed close and trailed 9-6 after two blocks from freshmen duo Chloe Allen and Alyssa Frazier.

The Jags got another momentum-boosting block from Allen and Hedrick to tie the set 14-all. AU took its first lead of the set at 19-18 and were up 21-19 with Kenya Stokes on serve. Aiken raced back and tied the set on an ace. The set was extended 24-all, 25-all, and 26-all, but the Jags won 28-26 for the early advantage.

The second set saw USCA take another early lead as they went up 5-1. The match was tied at 8-8, when Augusta won four of the next five points and went on to dominate 25-17.

Up 2-0 in the match, Augusta couldn't hold off USCA and dropped the next three sets and the match.

Augusta heads to the Peach Belt Conference Tournament Nov. 17-19, hosted by Georgia College, in Milledgeville, Ga. Stay tuned to augustajags.com for final standings and seeds for the tourney.

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