MOBILE, Ala. ? The University of South Alabama women’s volleyball team snapped a four-match losing skid Friday night when it defeated Southeastern Louisiana 3-1 (30-23, 30-25, 24-30, 30-24) in the opening round of the 2006 Jaguar Classic held at Jag Gym. In the opener, Auburn swept Samford 3-0.
“The crowd for us tonight was awesome,” said South Alabama women’s volleyball head coach Nicole Keshock. “The Outlaws just do so much for us when they walk in the building. They really fire our team up. Game two in the past has given us a little bit of a problem, but tonight our girls just stepped up and took it. There were a lot of positives for us tonight. Our hitting percentage was the best that we have hit all season and it’s always good when you can have three players in double digit kills.”
USA (3-4) will take on Samford at 1 p.m. on Saturday and then face Auburn in the finale at 7 p.m. Admission is free and fans will be able to receive a free five-minute massage from Blue Cliff Career College all day.
The Jags, leading 8-7 early on in the opener quickly pushed across four straight points to jump out to a 12-7 lead. Brittany Blackwelder led the scoring spurt with two of her 15 kills on the night. After South Alabama led by as much as seven (16-9), Southeastern Louisiana (2-7) began to chip away at the deficit and cut the lead to one (19-18) on a Melissa Jones kill. That was as close as the Lions got the rest of the game, as USA responded with four unanswered points to hold a 23-18 lead on a Stephanie Cutter ace. The Jags went on to take a 1-0 match lead with the 30-23 victory.
SELU came out in the second game and held control early on when Brittany Pomes recorded one of her three service aces on the night to give the Lions an 8-4 advantage. South Alabama kept digging away at the deficit and after a pair of SELU errors, tied the contest back up at 10-10. The two clubs went back-and-forth for much of the rest of the way with neither team able to garner more than a two-point advantage. Trailing 23-21 in the second game, the Lady Jags took the lead for good when four straight points (25-23) that was capped off by a Cutter kill that the 5-6 setter dumped over the net. After Lydia Adeosun (SELU) recorded a kill of her own to cut the margin to one, USA closed out the game by taking five of the final six points. Summer Pilgrim finished off the 30-25 win with one of her seven kills.
Holding a 2-0 match lead, the Jags came out and grabbed the early advantage, leading by as many as three on a couple of occasions. After A Kalyn Hundley ace put the Jag women up 14-11, the Lady Lions went on a 4-0 spurt and regained the lead at 15-14 after a Jaguar attack error. Trailing by one (16-15), Southeastern Louisiana grabbed a 21-16 lead after reeling off six straight points. USA was able to close the gap to two on a couple of occasions, but the Lions held on for the 30-24 win to cut the match deficit to 2-1.
In the fourth and deciding game, USA broke an early 3-3 tie with four straight points and look as if it were going to cruise to an easy victory. However, the Lions again fought back and after trailing by as many as nine at 18-9, tied the contest up at 21-21 thanks to a 12-3 run that was led by a couple of Coline Cook kills and the serving of Emily Jordan. Tied at 24-24, the Jags used the home crowd’s energy to finish with the final six points to take the 30-24 game victory and the match.
USA placed three players in double digit kills, led by Jenna Swilley (16) Blackwelder (16) and Shannon VanAntwerp (10). VanAntwerp also recorded 13 digs on the night to give the Jag junior her first double-double of the season. SELU received a pair of double-double performances from Cook (13 kills, 16 digs) and Melissa Jones (12 kills and 13 digs).
