HAMMOND, La. ? Behind a balanced offensive attack, the University of South Alabama women’s volleyball team captured a 3-1 (25-17, 25-11, 19-25, 25-23) victory over Southeastern Louisiana to open the 2008 campaign Saturday afternoon at the University Center.
USA (1-0) was paced offensively by Brittany Blackwelder’s match-high 11 kills, while Hristina Markova and Lindsay Schwartz, each finished with 10 kills apiece. Markova and Blackwelder also combined for seven of South Alabama’s eight service aces in the win. Freshman libero Samia Salomao led the way on the defensive side of the net with 26 digs. The dig total was the third most ever by a Jag in a four-set match.
Southeastern Louisiana falls to 0-1 on the young season with the loss. Lauren Mayer paced the Lady Lions with 10 kills.
SET ONE: SOUTH ALABAMA 25, SOUTHEASTERN LOUISIANA 17
The host Lady Lions came out and held the early momentum in the opening set, jumping out to a 7-2 advantage. USA responded to the Southeastern run with a spurt of its own. Trailing by five, the Jaguar women reeled off nine of the next 12 points to grab their first lead of the afternoon at 11-10. With the score knotted up at 14-14, South Alabama took control with an 8-0 run that was highlighted by two Markova aces. Tereza Bendlova sealed the 25-17 set victory for the Jags when the junior slammed down her fifth kill of the opening set.
SET TWO: SOUTH ALABAMA 25, SOUTHEASTERN LOUISIANA 11
In set two, South Alabama used another big unanswered run to take control, this one a string of seven straight points. Blackwelder put USA up 8-2 with an ace of her own. The Jags didn’t let up and later pushed its lead out to double figures when Blackwelder and Juliana Pallamin de Almeida combined for a block assist to put USA up 18-8. The Lions had no answer the rest of the way as South Alabama went on to take the 16-point set two victory. SELU didn’t help its cause any as it recorded a .000 hitting percentage. After struggling early on in the match, South Alabama came out in set two and hit a blistering .417 percentage.
SET THREE: SOUTHEASTERN LOUISIANA 25, SOUTH ALABAMA 19
The two clubs battled back-and-fourth early on until with the set tied at 8-8, Schwartz ignited a run of six-straight points to give South Alabama the 14-8 advantage. The scoring spurt was capped off by a pair of blocks from Markova. With USA leading by four (17-13), it was SELU’s turn to capitalize on a big run. Paige Dollison got things started with a kill of her own and Jessica Srajer then tied up the set at 17-17 with another one. After an exchange of points between the two teams, the Lions were able to reel off seven of the next eight points to give Southeastern the 25-19 victory and close the match to two sets to one.
SET FOUR: SOUTH ALABAMA 25, SOUTHEASTERN LOUISIANA 23
In the finale, South Alabama went up 11-4 early on when Markova slammed down one of her 10 kills in the match. SELU didn’t roll over and kept battling back, eventually cutting the lead to 18-17 on a LaToya Paige solo block. After another kill from Markova and a Lion attack error, the Jags looked to have pulled away to a comfortable margin at 24-19, but again SELU chipped away, getting as close as one. Juliana Pallamin de Alemida though capped things off for USA when Southeastern was unable to control her kill attempt. The 25-23 fourth set victory sealed the match victory for South Alabama.
The Jags are scheduled to return home to Mobile to take on cross-town rival Spring Hill on Tuesday at 7 p.m.
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).
