MOBILE, Ala. ? Behind the trio of Tereza Bendlova, Hristina Markova and Juliana Almeida, the South Alabama volleyball team snapped a four-match skid and picked up its first Sun Belt Conference victory Monday night with a 3-1 (25-21, 19-25, 25-17, 25-18) victory over Troy at Jag Gym.
South Alabama (7-6, 1-4 SBC) will next begin a three-match road swing Thursday evening when the Jags head to New Orleans to take on the Privateers at 7 p.m. With the loss, Troy falls to 9-11 on the year and 0-5 in league play.
Bendlova led the way offensively for the Jags in the win, finishing the night with a match-high 12 kills. Markova and Almeida were close behind, each chipping in with 10 kills each. Almeida also added 14 digs to give the Jag sophomore her fourth straight double-double of the season. Troy was led by Meghan Gilroy and Aubre Smith’s 10 kills each.
The story of the match though was the front line defense of the Jags, as they finished the night with 22 block assists, compared to just 10 block assists from the Trojans. Lindsay Schwartz led the way with eight of her own for USA. Senior middle blocker Brittany Blackwelder also made history in the win, as the Robertsdale, Ala., native passed former Jag Summer Pilgrim to become USA’s all-time career block assists leader. Blackwelder ended the match with one block solo and three block assists.
SET ONE: South Alabama 25, Troy 21
The opening set was a tight contest throughout as the two clubs exchanged the lead on six occasions and forced 13 ties. With the contest all knotted up at 16, Markova put the Jags out in front when the sophomore outside hitter slammed home one of her 10 kills to ignite a three-point spurt for the Jags. Troy battled back and was able to cut the South Alabama advantage to 21-20 after an attack error, but USA closed strong, reeling off four of the final five points to take the 25-21 set one victory.
SET TWO: Troy 25, South Alabama 19
Like the opener, set number two was tight for a majority of the contest with neither team able to gain more that a three-point lead on the other. However, with the set all square at 19, the Trojans evened things up when they pushed across seven unanswered points en route to the 25-19 victory. Smith capped off the Trojan run and gave Troy the six-point victory with a back-to-back kills.
SET THREE: South Alabama 25, Troy 17
Coming out of the intermission, USA got off to a great start in the third set jumping out to a quick 6-0 lead. During the Jaguar run, the Trojans didn’t help their cause as they committed five attack errors, two of which coming courtesy of the defensive front line of South Alabama. Troy answered right back and quickly tied things back up at 6-6 with six unanswered points of its own. Schwartz ended any gained momentum on the next point though and put USA back out in front for good with a kill of her own. Leading by two (14-12) later in the set, South Alabama broke things open with a run of four straight points. From that point on, Troy got no closer than four as USA went on to take the 25-17 win.
SET FOUR: South Alabama 25, Troy 18
In the final set, Blackwelder broke a 10-10 tie and ignited a four point run when the senior slammed home a kill of her own. The record-breaking block assists for Blackwelder also came during the four-point spurt. Troy could not steal the momentum away from South Alabama the rest of the way, as USA went on to take the match with the eight-point (25-18) set four victory, allowing Troy to get no closer than three.
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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