CHARLESTON – Saturday afternoon, Charleston Southern traveled to USC Upstate for both team's third conference matches of the 2025 season. The Buccaneers lost in three sets to the hosting Spartans, (20-25, 21-25, 19-25).

CSU led early in the match, holding an advantage through its first 10 points. However, a critical 5-0 run by USC Upstate later in the first set gave the Spartans a 20-17 lead. A kill by Upstate freshman Summer Kohler sealed the set, giving the home team a 1-0 lead in the Saturday afternoon contest.

A highlight for the Buccaneers in set one came at the service line — Skylar Yates, the current Big South leader in service aces, recorded three in the opening set. It marked a career-best for the senior in a single set.

Like the first set, the Bucs opened the second frame strong, jumping out to an 8-2 lead. But momentum quickly shifted as a 6-0 run by Upstate flipped the score to 11-9 in favor of the Spartans. After trading points through the middle of the set, another 6-0 Upstate surge gave the home team a commanding 21-14 lead. The Spartans went on to take set two, 25-21.

In set three, multiple scoring runs by the Spartans ultimately handed CSU its first loss of conference play, as Upstate closed out the match with a 25-19 win in the final frame.

Despite the loss, Charleston Southern saw standout performances from Oliwia Durka and Emily Struckmeyer. Durka finished with a .438 hitting percentage, eight kills, and three blocks. Struckmeyer led the team with 10 kills on an impressive .714 hitting percentage.

Notables:

• Skylar Yates tied her career-high in the service aces category with 4 Saturday afternoon.

• Tristin Sutton was the only Buc to record a double-double as the sophomore posted 11 digs and a team-high 14 assists. Saturday was Sutton's 7th double-double performance of the season.

Up Next:

The Bucs will hit the road for another weekend of Big South play next week as they visit the High Point Panthers at 6:00 PM on Friday, October 10th, and Radford on Saturday, October 11th at 2:00 PM. Both matches are slated to be broadcast on ESPN+.

For all the most up-to-date coverage involving CSU Volleyball, follow us on Instagram and X/Twitter @csubucs_vb.