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Volleyball upsets Augusta State at PBC tournament

Lady Bearcats will face second-seeded AASU on Saturday

Melissa McCracken

AIKEN, S.C. - The upset-minded Lander volleyball team advanced to the Peach Belt Conference semifinals Friday night when the sixth-seeded Bearcats downed third-seeded Augusta State, 3-2 (25-20, 25-23, 25-27, 21-25, 15-8) at the USC Aiken Convocation Center. (LiveStats | Tournament website)

Lander improves to 18-14 overall and will face second-seeded Armstrong Atlantic at 6 p.m. Saturday. The other semifinal will feature top-seeded Flagler College and fourth-seeded Montevallo at 4 p.m. Augusta State ends the season at 22-12.

Melissa McCracken, Magi Nottingham and Candace LaRocca posted double-doubles to lead the Bearcats. McCracken had a game-high 21 kills and 22 digs, Nottingham had 16 kills and 13 digs and LaRocca had 56 assists and 14 digs. Kendall Eayrs added 17 kills, while Ashley Ferry totaled 36 digs and three service aces and Abbey Focht contributed 15 digs.

Augusta State was led by Jessica Howard (20 kills), Lagi Roberts (10 kills, 15 digs), Tarah Childress (12 digs), Mandy Irizarry (10 kills), Ashley Zappitell (43 assists, 14 digs), Lindsey Weider (23 digs) and Diana Meyer (12 digs).