MOBILE, Ala. - The University of South Alabama volleyball team opened the match with a first-set victory, but North Texas rallied back from the early deficit to pick up the next three and defeat the Jags 3-1 (27-25, 13-25, 14-25, 24-26) Friday evening on "Dig Pink" nigth at Jag Gym.
"For the last couple of weeks, we have just played very inconsistently, both from match to match and even within a match and a set," South Alabama head coach Nicole Keshock said. "We didn't play well in sets two and three, but we didn't give up in the fourth set. We came back and we kept fighting. However, we need more consistent play from more players in order for us to be successful at the end of the night."
With the loss, USA falls to 11-13 on the season and 2-9 in league play, while the Mean Green improve to 8-13 and 4-5 in the Sun Belt.
Juliana Almeida and Lindsay Schwartz led South Alabama offensively in the loss with 12 kills each, Samia Salomao had a season-high 16 digs. The Mean Green was led by Roxana Casvean and Amy Huddleston's 16 kills each. Sarah Willey also finished the night with a match-high 22 digs.
SET ONE: South Alabama 27, North Texas 25
In the opening set, North Texas led by as many as three early on, but with the Mean Green holding an 11-9 advantage after a kill from Huddleston, South Alabama pushed across three straight points to take its first lead of the night at 12-11. UNT answered back though and quickly reclaimed the lead with four unanswered points of its own.
USA though didn't quit and later in the set tied the contest back up at 15 after a pair of Mean Green attack errors. For the remainder of the match, as neither team was able to garner more than a two-point advantage on the other. Huddleston put North Texas at set-point (25-24) after the junior outside hitter recorded her seventh kill of the frame, but once again the Jags rallied. Lindsay Schwartz ignited the scoring for USA with one of her three kills in the set. After a UNT attack error, Hristina Markova capped of the rally and gave South Alabama the 27-25 victory with an ace.
SET TWO: North Texas 25, South Alabama 13
After the Jags recorded the first point of the second set, North Texas took control out-scoring USA 8-2 over the next 10 points. The Jaguars narrowed the deficit to 14-11 after Markova kill, but the Mean Green closed the set strong. UNT's Brittany Brown's kill on the next point started an 11-2 run for North Texas and the freshman later capped off the run with another put away to seal the 25-13 win.
The telling stat of the second set was in the attack percentage category where UNT hit .276, compared to a -.069 by South Alabama.
SET THREE: North Texas 25, South Alabama 14
In the third set, South Alabama was able to keep things close til midway through the set. Holding a 13-10 advantage, North Texas again used a huge run to close the set and take the victory, this one an 11-4 scoring spurt. North Texas began the run with five unanswered points and then went on to take the set, 25-14, after another Jaguar attack error.
For the second-straight set, the South Alabama offense struggled to get on track as the Jags hit a -.0.29.
SET FOUR: North Texas 26, South Alabama 24
After exchanging the lead over the first several points in the fourth set, South Alabama pushed across four unanswered points to take a 7-4 lead. Tereza Bendlova and Schwartz led the charge for the Jags as the duo combined for two block assists during the run. South Alabama led 14-10 after an Almeida kill and ace, but North Texas reeled off five of the next six points to tie things back up at 15 after a Jaguar attack error.
Like the first set, the two clubs battled down the stretch with neither able to pull away. With the score 24-24, Casvean and Huddleston broke the 11th tie of the set and put the match away with a kill each to give North Texas the 26-24 victory.
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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