MONROE, La. ? Behind the 14 kill, nine dig performance of sophomore outside hitter Juliana Pallamin de Almeida, the University of South Alabama volleyball team captured a 3-0 (25-16, 25-13, 25-23) Sun Belt Conference sweep of Louisiana-Monroe Sunday afternoon at the ULM Activity Center.
With the win, the Jags even their overall record to 8-8 and their league record to 2-6. South Alabama will now return home to take on Florida International and Florida Atlantic next weekend. USA will face the Golden Panthers on Friday at 7 p.m. and then take on Florida Atlantic at 1 p.m.
Louisiana-Monroe falls to 1-19 on the year and 0-6 in league play. ULM was led offensively by Johanna Spreen’s 10 kills.
As a team, the Jaguars out hit the Warhawks .423 to .242 and committed just five attack errors in the match.
SET ONE: South Alabama 25, Louisiana-Monroe 16
South Alabama broke an early 3-3 tie in the first set after a 7-2 run over the next nine points to stretch its lead out to five at 10-5. During the Jaguar run, Almeida paced the visitors offensively, recording three of her six kills in the frame during the run. USA later took control of the opening set with another spurt, this one coming at 12-9. Tereza Bendlova ignited the second 7-2 run of the set with a kill and senior middle blocker Brittany Blackwelder capped things off when she found slammed home her third kill of the set to put South Alabama up 19-11. The Jags cruised the rest of the way and took the early 1-0 match lead with the 25-16 first set victory. USA was on fire in the opening set, hitting a blistering .565 percentage with 14 kills on 23 attempts, while committing just one error.
SET TWO: South Alabama 25, Louisiana-Monroe 13
ULM led by two (3-1) early on, but led by the serving off freshman libero Samia Salomao, South Alabama quickly retook the lead for good when it pushed across six of the next seven points. The Jaguar run was highlighted by three aces from Salomao. Riding its solid offensive attack, USA later broke things open with another huge run, this one a 12-3 scoring spurt that saw the Jags take a double-digit advantage at 20-9. Like in the opening set, Almeida paced South Alabama during that stretch, recording three more kills and capping it off with another Jaguar ace. ULM could not answer back as the Jag offense and defense stayed strong, leading USA to the 25-13 set two win. South Alabama continued its torrid offensive production, bettering its attack percentage to .647 (11-0-17).
SET THREE: South Alabama 25, Louisiana-Monroe 23
Coming out of the intermission trailing two sets to none, the Warhawks opened the third set with a 7-3 run, led by three kills from Dilonga Mahogany. South Alabama though answered the ULM run with a spurt of its own, this one a 10-1 run that was capped off with another Blackwelder kill to increase USA’s advantage to five (13-8). With the Jags leading 16-10, it was the Warhawks turn to run points, as they reeled off six of the next seven points and pulled to with in one at 17-16 after back-to-back kills from Dilonga and a kill from Spreen. ULM kept chipping at the deficit and retook the lead (21-20) after a Jaguar attack error. The two clubs kept battling over the next several points and Maria Kashavelova broke a late 23-23 tie when the sophomore setter dropped in a shot over the pulled in Warhawk defense. Almeida then sealed the match victory when she slammed home her 14th kill of the match.
For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).
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