BOCA RATON, Fla. ? The University of South Alabama women’s volleyball team fought hard but was swept 3-0 (30-21, 30-28, 31-29) by Florida Atlantic Friday night at FAU Arena in Sun Belt Conference play.
The loss drops USA to 5-23 and 0-16 in the Sun Belt, while FAU improves to 10-17 and 6-10 in the conference. The Lady Jags will conclude the regular season Sunday when they take on Florida International at Noon at Pharmed Arena on the FIU campus.
South Alabama held an early 3-1 advantage in game one until Florida Atlantic’s Krystena Castro ignited a 10-2 Owl run to give FAU an 11-5 lead. The Jaguar women clawed their way back over the next several points and after back-to-back Florida Atlantic attack errors, cut the deficit to one at 13-12. Holding a 16-14 advantage, the Lady Owls reeled off their second 10-2 run of the evening that was capped off by a Casey LaRocca ace, her second of the opener. Florida Atlantic went on to finish off game one 30-21 after another Castro put away.
The Jags came out in the second game and captured seven of the first 10 points. Brittany Blackwelder and Jade Nuss combined for a block assists to cap the early USA run. The Lady Owls then began chipping away at the South Alabama lead and after a Jaguar attack error, tied the contest up at 9-9. After a Lauren Robbins kill on the next point, Castro again led the charge for the Owls. FAU reeled off four unanswered points to take a 13-10 lead, led by two kills and a solo block from Castro. South Alabama continued to battle and after a kill and a block assist from Blackwelder, the Jags cut the deficit to one (16-15). The two clubs exchanged points over the next six points and South Alabama tied the contest back up at 19-19 after a FAU attack error. Jenna Swilley put the Lady Jags up 20-19 on the next point, but Florida Atlantic later reclaimed a three point lead on a Nikki Hartman service ace. USA again battled back and retook the lead at 28-27 after Jennifer Johnson dropped in a kill of her own. The Lady Owls, however, went on to push across the final three points of game two and take the 30-28 victory.
Holding a 2-0 match lead, Florida Atlantic opened game three with a 9-1 run. Trailing by six at 13-7, the Lady Jags answered with eight straight unanswered points of their own. Jennifer Johnson put USA up 15-13 with another kill. The two clubs went back-and-forth over much of the remainder of the game with neither able to capture more than a two point advantage. With the score knotted up at 23-23, the host Lady Owls looked to take control for good when they captured six of the next seven points to hold game point at 29-24. South Alabama did not give up though and after two consecutive block assists from the duo of Johnson and Swilley, the Lady Jags tied the contest back up at 29-29. The USA rally ended there though as Castro dropped in two straight kills to give FAU the 31-29 win.
Robbins led the Jags offensively with 11 kills, while Castro was one of three Lady Owls in double digits with a match-high 17.
