AUGUSTA, Ga. – The fifth-seeded University of South Carolina Aiken volleyball team took down No. 1 Augusta Friday evening in the PBC Semifinals by a 3-1 score.

The Pacers improve to 19-12 on the season while the Jaguars stand at 24-7. This marks the first PBC Finals appearance for USC Aiken since the 2015 season.

Set scores were 25-22, 23-25, 28-26, 25-18.

The Pacers jumped out to an early lead, taking the first set by a narrow 25-22 margin. After being down 20-9 in the second set, Augusta mounted a 16-4 scoring run to capture the second set. AU held a slight advantage toward the end of the third set, but was unable to hold off the Pacers led by the hot hitting hand of Emily Lammers. Unable to recover from the loss of All-Conference middle Jada Suguturaga, the Jags would fall 25-18 in the final stanza. 

Jazmyn Wheeler led Augusta with 12 kills and added seven digs.  Kayli Cleaver added eight kills while Alexis Diaz-Infante had seven.  Samantha Zittrauer led the Jaguars with 24 assists while Dariana Luna had 18 digs.

The loss will end Augusta's four-year streak of winning the PBC Tournament.  The Jaguars are a lock to secure an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament when the selections are announced on Sunday night.


Fans of Jaguar Athletics can subscribe to the email listserve by clicking here. Fans can follow Augusta University at www.AugustaJags.com and receive short updates on Facebook at Augusta University Athletics and on Twitter at @AugustaJags