BOWLING GREEN, Ky. ? The University of South Alabama women’s volleyball team dropped its second straight Sun Belt Conference match Saturday night when the Jaguar women fell 3-0 (20-30, 26-30, 12-30) to Western Kentucky at E.A. Diddle Arena.
South Alabama (5-9, 0-2 SBC) will next return home to take on in-state rival Troy Tuesday at 7 p.m. at Jag Gym for its Sun Belt Conference home opener.
Western Kentucky (13-6, 2-0 SBC) set the tone early in game one as the Lady Toppers jumped out to a quick 5-0 lead that was paced by two kills each from Megan Argabright and Aquila Orr. After a block assists from Jenna Swilley and Brittany Blackwelder, the Lady Jags trimmed the deficit to two at 9-7. USA would get no closer in the opener as WKU answered right back with five of the next six points to stretch its lead back out to five (14-9). The Lady Toppers eventually stretched their lead out to as many as 12 at 26-14 after Argabright and Julia Noe combined for a block of a Jaguar attack. USA continued to fight and eventually cut the deficit to single digits at 29-20 after a block assist from Kalyn Hundley and Blackwelder. Western Kentucky was able to capture the final point and took game one 30-20.
In game two, USA came out with the early advantage and held a three point lead at 8-5 after back-to-back attack errors from the host ?Toppers. WKU took its first lead of the second contest at 11-10 after a service ace from Noe. The two clubs kept the game tight over the next several points and with the Lady Jags leading 17-16, Western Kentucky was able to push across four straight points, aided by three Jaguar attack errors, and hold a 20-17 lead. South Alabama was able to cut the lead to 23-21 on a Hundley put away, but Ali Christian slammed down two consecutive kills to put WKU back up 25-21. USA trimmed the deficit to two on two occasions the rest of the way, but The Lady Toppers held on for the 30-26 victory and went up 2-0 in the match.
Like in the opener, the Lady Toppers raced out to an early lead in the finale, this time a 9-1 run. The Jags were unable to recover and WKU went on to take the match with a 30-12 victory.
Western Kentucky received a match-high 13 kills from Argabright and a 10 kill performance from Christian on the night. Swilley led the Jags with seven kills. South Alabama struggled offensively on the night, finishing the match with a -.042 hitting percentage.
NOTES: Senior middle blocker Summer Pilgrim recorded her 246th career block assist in game one to tie former Jag Keturah Carter for tops on the all-time career mark and in game two of the match, the Jag senior moved into first place when she and fellow teammate Jenna Swilley combined for another.
