MOBILE, Ala. ? Behind a complete match effort, the University of South Alabama volleyball team captured a 3-0 (25-17, 25-20, 25-15) sweep of Florida Atlantic Sunday afternoon at Jag Gym to even its record to 9-9  overall and improve to 3-7 in Sun Belt Conference action.  The loss for Florida Atlantic dropped the Owls to 10-10 and 3-5 in league play.

South Alabama had five players record six or more kills, led by sophomore outside hitter Hristina Markova’s match-high 13.  The Sofia, Bulgaria native also finished with two service aces, two block assists and recorded a .579 hitting percentage (13-2-19).  Lindsay Schwartz added eight kills of her own for the Jags, while Tereza Bendlova chipped in with seven and Juliana Pallamin de Almeida and Brittany Blackwelder added six kills each. 

Florida Atlantic was paced offensively by Kala Abdell and Morgan John’s six kills each.

One key stat of the match was in the blocking category, where USA recorded 10 total blocks, compared to just three from FAU.  The Owls entered the weekend as the league leader in that category.

SET ONE: South Alabama 25, Florida Atlantic18

The Jags set the tone early in the opening set.  With the first frame all square at 4-4, USA was able to rattle off five straight points and take a 9-5 lead, one it did not relinquish.  FAU was able to hang around and keep its deficit at around the three point range, but USA was broke things open later in the set with an 8-2 run.  During the Jaguar run, Markova led South Alabama with two of her kills.  Schwartz and Bendlova capped things off when the Jag duo combined for a block assists to put the Jags up 21-12.  Almeida sealed the opening set victory of USA when the sophomore outside hitter slammed home a kill to give the Jags the 25-17 victory.

SET TWO: South Alabama 25, Florida Atlantic 20

The second set was a carbon copy of the first early on as the two clubs kept things close in the first several points.  USA broke a 5-5 tie and took the lead for good when it was able to push across four unanswered points.  FAU answered right back with two straight points of its own, courtesy of an Abdell put away and a Jaguar attack error, but that was as close as the Owls got the rest of the way.  USA was able to regain the momentum and not allow FAU to get any closer than four the rest of the way and led by as many as seven.  The South Alabama offense seemed to find its rhythm in the second set, recording 17 kills on 35 attempts, while hitting just five attack errors for a .343 percentage.

SET THREE: South Alabama 25, Florida Atlantic 15

In the finale, South Alabama took the lead for good at 7-5 after back-to-back Owl attack errors.  The Jags were able to break things open later in the set, when Maria Kashavelova dropped in a dump shot to ignite a 7-0 run.  Schwartz was instrumental in the Jaguar scoring spurt as the freshman middle blocker notched three of her kills during the run, including her last one to give USA a double-digit lead (23-13).  South Alabama went on to pick up the match victory with the 25-15 third set victory after recording a .357 attack percentage (12-2-28).

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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