"I was pleased with the team's focus tonight in this midweek match," head coach Patrick Nicholas said. "We got off to a solid start and stayed strong through a majority of the match. The team is improving and we need to keep building toward a big pair of matches on the road this weekend."

Junior Kellie Orewiler racked up nine digs in the match to move into sole possession of seventh place on the UNCG career top 10 chart. She now owns 1,308 digs in less than three seasons in Greensboro. Classmate Olivia Humphries and freshman Katherine Santiago led the defensive charge with 10 digs apiece. Offensively, junior Karrian Chambers and sophomore Vicky Harley produced double-digit kill efforts with 11 and 10 respectively while sophomore setter Emily McMurtrey tallied 38 assists and four digs as well as picking up a pair of kills on her only two attempts.

The Spartans eclipsed the .300 hitting plateau for the second time this season, firing at a .340 clip to turn in their campaign-high mark. UNCG also held the upper hand in kills (45-29), assists (41-25), aces (5-3) and digs (42-32) while the teams finished even in blocking at five each. The Spartans worked well in the sideout game, posting an overall mark of 70 percent – including an 80-percent showing in the first set.

South Carolina State opened the match with an attacking error, giving UNCG a quick 1-0 lead. The Bulldogs were able to keep within shouting distance early as a Taylor Bailey kill made the score 8-6 in favor of the home team. However, Chambers responded with two-straight kills to put some distance between the teams. SCSU took a timeout trailing 15-8 but it proved futile as a Morgan Freeman kill pushed the margin to 20-10. The Spartans cruised from there, taking the first frame by a score of 25-14.

UNCG raced out to a 4-1 edge to begin the second interval on a Chambers ace and extended the lead to 8-3 on a Freeman kill. South Carolina State rallied from there, pulling to within 12-10 as an Erica Pritchett kill capped a 7-4 run to keep the set close. However, the Spartans recorded three kills in the next four rallies to take an insurmountable 16-10 advantage. Elizabeth Webb pulled the visitors to within three at 18-15 with a kill, but the Bulldogs could only manage 18 points in the frame as a service error ended the proceedings and left UNCG with a 2-0 match lead.

The third set was the closest of the three but it looked like the Spartans would run away with it early as a block by McMurtrey and Harley made the score 10-6 in favor of UNCG. South Carolina State would take its first lead of the match at 12-11 thanks to a Chambers attack error, but the Spartans used an 8-4 run to push past the Bulldogs and build a 19-16 cushion. Chambers would get back on track offensively and her kill afforded UNCG its first match point of the night at 24-19. The Bulldogs were able to stay alive twice, but Humphries slammed the door shut with a kill which gave the Spartans a 25-21 victory and the sweep.

The Blue and Gold jumps back into Southern Conference play this weekend with matches at South Division opponents Georgia Southern and Davidson. UNCG takes on the Eagles in Statesboro, Ga. Saturday at 1 p.m. before battling the Wildcats Sunday at 2 p.m. in Davidson, N.C.