Spartanburg, S.C. -- Stetson will have to wait another week to try and secure its spot in the Atlantic Sun tournament.

The Hatters were poised to punch their ticket Saturday afternoon but let a 2-0 lead slip away and fell 3-2 (23-25, 22-25, 25-20, 25-20, 15-12) to host USC Upstate at the Hodge Center.

Stetson (10-16, 4-8 A-Sun) also led 10-6 in the fifth set before the Spartans rallied for a 15-12 victory.

Senior Michelle Kastner picked up a career-high 31 digs, including the 800th dig of her career.  It marked the third-highest single-match dig total in school history, one shy of the school record (rally scoring era).

For the match, Stetson picked up a season-high 88 digs.

Offensively, Haley Tippett (17 kills), Madison Akins (15 kills), and McKenna Foster (13 kills) led the Hatters.  Akins committed just one error in 39 attempts for a .359 attack percentage.  Kayla Weller distributed 46 assists.  Shelby Connors picked up five blocks, including the 200th block of her career.

Stetson hit .132 for the match, which lasted two hours and eight minutes.  The Spartans (15-13, 3-9) hit .175.

By virtue of winning two sets on Saturday, Stetson now holds the head-to-head tiebreaker with USC Upstate, if the two teams were to finish with the same conference record.  They split the season series one match apiece, but the Hatters won five head-to-head sets while the Spartans won four.

Stetson will host Lipscomb at 2 p.m. Saturday and NJIT at 1 p.m. Sunday, needing just one win to clinch a postseason berth.

Double-Doubles
Kayla Weller recorded her 32nd career double-double (46 assists, 16 digs) ... Madison Akins recorded her 11th career souble-double (15 kills, 13 digs).

Digs Record
The only two Hatters with more digs in a match than Michelle Kastner were Monique Russell and Alexa Drost with 32.

Three Solos
Shelby Connors tied a career-high and tied a school record (RSE) with three solo blocks.