TALLAHASSEE, Fla. ? The University of South Alabama women’s volleyball team suffered its first loss of the season Friday afternoon when it dropped a 3-0 (30-12, 30-16, 30-27) decision to Eastern Illinois in the opening round of the FSU Invitational held at Lucy Memorial Court at Tully Gym.
South Alabama will return to the court Saturday to take on tournament host Florida State at 10 a.m. (ET) and then take on Stetson at 4:30 p.m. (ET).
With the Lady Jags (2-1) trailing by one early in the opening game, Eastern Illinois (2-0) pushed its lead to 9-3, courtesy of a 6-1 scoring spurt. A Colleen Downey ace cut the deficit to four (11-7), but the Panthers again quickly pushed the lead back out to seven. After back-to-back kills from Kalyn Hundley, EIU closed out the opener on a 13-1 run that was highlighted by four Lindsay Walsh aces and was capped off by an Amy Sesol kill. The Lady Panthers came out on fire offensively in game one, recording a hitting percentage of .524 and took game one 30-12
In game two with USA down 5-4, the Panthers again used a spurt to widen the margin. Kills from Kari Hauswirth and Kera Griffin pushed the margin out to six (11-5) for EIU. USA kept it at that range for the next few points but with the Jags trailing 18-10, Eastern Illinois ended the second game like they did the first with another big run. This time the Panthers used an 11-2 run to put them at game point. After four straight Jag points, Sesol ended the second contest with her fourth kill of the match.
The third contest was tight for most of the game with neither team able to hold more than a two point advantage. Tied at 21-21, true freshman Taylor Irvin started a three-point run with her fifth kill of the match to push the South Alabama lead to 24-21. Eastern Illinois did not let the Jag lead expand any further and eventually regained the lead at 28-27 after three straight Jag errors. EIU took the game and the match after a kill from Kara Sorenson and a service ace from Caitlin Balsam. The ace was EIU’s 13th of the match.
USA was led offensively by Jenna Swilley’s nine kills. The Panthers placed two players in double figures in kills led by Eliza Zwettler’s match-high 18.
