HATTIESBURG, Miss. ? After trailing 2-0 in the match, the University of South Alabama saw its rally attempt come up short as the Jags fell 3-1 (30-23, 30-11, 21-30, 38-36) to Southern Miss (4-4) Tuesday night at the Payne Center.
“After game two, we went in and talked about stepping up to the challenge,” South Alabama women’s volleyball head coach Nicole Keshock said. “We talked about matching the other team’s effort when they begin to go on a run. In the third and fourth games, we fought and competed for every point and I couldn’t be happier with how we finished the match.”
USA (2-4) will return home for its home opener when it hosts Southeastern Louisiana on Friday at 7 p.m. in the first round of the Jaguar Classic at Jag Gym.
The first game of the night was a back-and-forth contest for much of the first half of the game with neither team able to gain more than a two point advantage. With the Lady Jags leading 16-14, the Lady Eagles reeled off seven straight points to take a 21-16 lead. The USM run was capped off by a Ashley Petrinec kill. Southern Miss held on to take a 1-0 match lead with the 30-23 victory. Mari Ruddick led the Lady Eagle attack with three kills in the opener.
In game two, South Alabama held an early 5-2 advantage, but Southern Miss again put together a big scoring spurt, this time a 9-1 run. The scoring spurt was highlighted by three Lady Eagle aces, two coming from Maia Ivanova. A Kalyn Hundley kill trimmed the Jag deficit to 16-10, but USM closed the second game with a 14-1 run, which included 11 unanswered Golden Eagle points. Morgan Johnson spurred the Eagle run with four of her 10 kills on the night. In the second game, USM was a blistering .448 from the floor.
Game three saw the Jag defense come alive. USA grabbed the lead at 13-9 on a block assist from Brittany Blackwelder and Hundley. Southern Miss battled back and eventually tied the contest back up at 17-17 on a Stevi Cherry kill, but after the Eagles grabbed a one point advantage, Jenna Swilley knotted the game back up at 18-all with a kill. One the very next point Blackwelder and Swilley gave USA the lead again when the two Jags combined for another Jag block assist. After a Blackwelder solo block, South Alabama again held a four point advantage at 22-18. Hundley capped off the Jag victory in game three with her fourth kill of the night to cut the match deficit to 2-1 with the 30-22 victory.
The fourth contest was another tight game early on with neither team able to pull away much. Trailing 8-5, South Alabama regained control and the lead with a 10-2 run. Blackwelder capped off the run with a kill and gave USA a 15-10 advantage. Southern Miss answered the Lady Jag run by taking six of the next seven points and tied the game up at 16-16 after a Jag error. Blackwelder gave USA the lead again with another put away and after a USM attack error, the Jags again held a three point advantage at 19-16. Southern Miss again answered with three straight points to tie the contest back up at 19-all. Thanks again to the Jaguar defense South Alabama again pushed across four unanswered points but again USM answered right back and cut the deficit to 25-24 after a Jag attack error. The Lady Eagle spurt was keyed by three straight kills from Petrinec.
USA held game point at 29-26, but again the home-standing Eagles did not die and rallied back to send the game into extra points. After exchange the lead on a couple of occasions, Southern Miss finally pulled ahead for good and took the win with Petrinec’s 14th kill of the night. USM took the game 38-36 and the match 3-1
South Alabama was led on the night by Swilley and Blackwelder’s 11 kills each. Blackwelder also had one solo block and eight block assists on the night. Petrinec was one of four players in double figures, followed by Cherry and Angela Hlavaty (12) and Johnson.
