A Look Back – 2009 Pacer Fall Athletics Review
Men's Soccer
The 2009 USC Aiken men's soccer team closed out their regular season with three consecutive victories, capped off by a 3-2 upset win over 13th-ranked Anderson at the Pacer Pit. USC Aiken outscored their opponents 11-3 during the three-game winning streak.
Overall, the Pacers finished the 2009 campaign 7-11-1 (2-6 PBC), earning a trip to the Peach Belt Conference Tournament. The Pacers concluded their season with a 2-0 loss to league rival Lander in the quarterfinals of the 2009 Peach Belt Conference Men's Soccer Championships. Alex Lewis was named to the PBC All-Tournament Team for his efforts during the tournament.
The Pacers had two players receive all-conference accolades in 2009. John Lesko and Troy Watson were named to the Peach Belt Conference Men's Soccer All-Conference Team for the second year in a row. A four year starter for the Pacers, Lesko was named to the second team as a defender, while Watson was named to the second team as a midfielder. Lesko was the only Pacer named to the 2009 Daktronics All-Region team. He was a second team selection.
Watson led the Pacers in 2009 with a team-high seven goals and seven assists for a team-high 21 total points, finishing the regular season in the top 10 in the PBC in seven different categories. He was selected as the PBC Player of the Week twice in 2009, winning the award on Sept. 9 and Sept. 22. Watson netted three match-winning goals in 2009 for the Pacers.
Five USC Aiken men's soccer student-athletes were selected to the Peach Belt Conference Men's Soccer All-Academic team. The Pacers had four student-athletes chosen to the first team, while one Pacer was tabbed to the second team. The first team featured USC Aiken's Chijioke Agbasi, Fernando Gamez-Noriega, Amr Hailat and Svetlin Penchev. A PBC All-Academic choice in 2008 as well, James Chidsey was chosen to the 2009 second team.
Women's Soccer
The 2009 USC Aiken women's soccer campaign ended with the Pacers owning a 6-11 record overall. USC Aiken finished the season winning four of its final five games. The Pacers concluded the 2009 Peach Belt Conference season with a 2-8 record. In a season full of close contests for the Pacer women, USC Aiken ended its 2009 Peach Belt Conference slate having been on the losing side of three overtime games in PBC action. In total, USC Aiken finished its 2009 season with nine one-goal losses. The Pacers lost six of their eight games in PBC play by just one goal.
USC Aiken's defensive unit had a tremendous season-ending stretch of not allowing a goal. The Pacer defense had not given up a goal in just over 501 minutes before surrendering the first goal of the match to GCSU in their season finale. The Pacers had played the entire 90 minutes of the previous four matches without surrendering a goal.
USC Aiken senior defender Annie Whitley was named to the 2009 Peach Belt Conference Women's Soccer All-Conference team. Whitley, who started all 17 games for the Pacers, was named to the second team as a defender. Whitley was also chosen to the 2009 ESPN The Magazine/CoSIDA Academic All-District Women's soccer team and the 2009 Peach Belt Conference All-Academic team.
Volleyball
The 2009 USC Aiken volleyball team finished the season with a 15-18 record, going 5-9 in Peach Belt Conference play. USC Aiken hosted the 2009 PBC Volleyball Championships for the first time in their new home arena, the Convocation Center. The Pacers entered the tournament as the fifth seeded team.
USC Aiken's Lauren Cedeno and Shannon Byers were both chosen to the 2009 Peach Belt Conference All-Conference volleyball second team. Byers ended the year with a team-best 326 kills. The freshman outside hitter collected double-digit kills in 15 matches. Cedeno led the Pacers in 2009 with 781 assists. The senior setter recorded 40 or more assists in five matches for USC Aiken.
USC Aiken acquired victories over both of the teams who would eventually meet for the NCAA Division II Southeast Regional Championship. The Pacers were the only team to beat Flagler in league play as the Pacers downed the Saints, 3-2, at the Convocation Center on Friday, Sept. 18. USC Aiken just one day later, was one of just two teams in the Peach Belt Conference to down the Pirates of Armstrong Atlantic during the regular season, acquiring a 3-1 win over AASU on Saturday, Sept. 19 at the Convocation Center.
The Pacers were ranked as high as No. 3 in the NCAA Division II Southeast Regional rankings. USC Aiken was the second highest ranked Peach Belt Conference squad with Flagler ranked one spot higher than the Pacers in second. Armstrong Atlantic was one spot lower than the Pacers in fourth. The Pacers won eight of 10 games from Sept. 4 through Sept. 19. Flagler would advance all the way to the Final Four of the 2009 NCAA Division II Volleyball Championship.
Four Pacer volleyball players were tabbed to the 2009 Peach Belt Conference Volleyball All-Academic Team. Cedeno and Chelsey Kight were both named to the first team. Whitney Tabbert was named to the second team, while Megan Disney was named to the third team.
Women's Cross Country
The USC Aiken women's cross-country team qualified for the 2009 NCAA Southeast Regionals. The Pacers finished in 19th as a team in a field of 23 teams. Nicole Maitland finished a team-best 32nd with a time of 25:28. The three-time All-Peach Belt Conference selection was one of two Pacers in the top 50 in the regional along with Jani Linde who finished 45th with a time of 25:54.
USC Aiken qualified for the Southeast Regional by virtue of their eighth place finish at the 6k 2009 Peach Belt Conference Cross Country Championships. Maitland finished in 11th place individually, while Linde finished in 18th place.
Maitland was selected to the 2009 Peach Belt Conference Women's Cross Country All-Academic team. Maitland is now a two-time winner of the award as she was also named to the PBC All-Academic team after the 2008 season.
Head coach Larry Milner and the Pacers hosted the Pacer Relays on October 17 in Aiken. It was the first ever intercollegiate event at Pacer Path, which is USC Aiken's four-mile-long, 15-feet wide grass and earth multipurpose fitness trail, located on property adjacent to the USCA Convocation Center.
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