MOBILE, Ala. ? Behind its best offensive production of the season and a school record performance, the South Alabama volleyball team swept North Texas, 3-0 (30-21, 30-22, 30-17) Saturday night at Jag Gym. In the win, USA recorded a school record .419 hitting percentage (52 kills, 8 errors, 105 attempts). The previous mark was .364 set by the 1999 squad at Jackson State (11/21).
“One thing that we talked about tonight before the match was playing well as a team in all areas,” South Alabama head coach Nicole Keshock said. “We were able to do that and this was a true team effort. I felt we served tough tonight and never allowed North Texas to get into an offensive flow. That was very important for us.”
The nine wins for South Alabama (9-14, 3-9 SBC) are the most for the club since the 2005 season. The three conference wins are also the most for USA since the 2001 season when the Jags recorded four during that season. North Texas drops its second straight match and falls to 9-16 overall and 5-6 in Sun Belt play.
Juliana Pallamin de Almeida led the offensive attack as the Jag freshman recorded 14 kills on 21 attack, without committing an error. Almeida’s .667 hitting percentage was also the third highest ever by a Jag in a match. Jenna Swilley and Brittany Blackwelder also recorded 10 kills each and Hristina Markova chipped in with nine of her own.
North Texas’ Katie Prokof led the Mean Green with nine kills of her own. The key stat of the night was in the serving department where the Jags held Brook Engel to just two service aces. Engel entered play this week leading the nation in that category and South Alabama never allowed her to get in a groove. As a team, UNT led the conference with over two aces per game, but the Jag serve receive defense only allowed the Mean Green to record four aces in the three games.
GAME ONE: South Alabama 30, North Texas 21
In the opener, the Jags took control out of the gate, grabbing four of the first five points. UNT was able to get as close as one at 5-4 after a Heather Maddox kill, but USA answered with a 15-4 run to push the lead back out to 20-8. During the Jag run, Almeida led the way recording four of her kills during that stretch. Almeida later sealed the 30-21 game one victory when she slammed home her sixth kill of the opener.
GAME TWO: South Alabama 30, North Texas 22
The second game of the match was tight for much of the early going. Tied at 11-11, South Alabama took the lead for good when Almeida ignited yet another scoring spurt, this one a 4-0 run. After an Engel kill, North Texas trailed by just three (23-20), but a Blackwelder put away started a 7-2 Jag run to end the game. The junior middle blocker book ended the run when she gave USA the 30-22 win with yet another kill.
GAME THREE: South Alabama 30, North Texas 17
Leading 2-0 in the match, South Alabama continued its consistent play, as the Jags opened the finale on a 10-4 run to end any hopes of a comeback by the Mean Green. Freshman setter Maria Kashavelova gave USA a double digit lead (20-8) with back-to-back kills of her own. The Jags cruised the rest of the way and went on to take the match with the 30-17 win in game three. Kashavelova also added 40 assists in the win.
