RUSTON, La. - The University of South Alabama volleyball team opened the 2009 campaign with a pair of victories Friday afternoon, defeating both Arkansas-Pine Bluff and Centenary, 3-0, at the Lady Techster Tournament held at the Thomas Assembly Center.

"I felt today was a good start for us," South Alabama head coach Nicole Keshock said.  "We were a little inconsistent in the first match against Arkansas-Pine Bluff, but seemed to improve in that area against Centenary, especially in our passing.  Juiana (Almeida) really had a great match against Centenary and carried us the whole way through."

USA (2-0) will continue play at the La. Tech tourney on Saturday when the Jags take on Tennessee-Martin at 2 p.m. and Louisiana Tech at 7 p.m.  Live stats for both matches can be accessed at www.usajaguars.com.

MATCH ONE: SOUTH ALABAMA 3, ARKANSAS PINE-BLUFF 0

The Jag service game was the story in the opener as USA recorded 15 aces in the 3-0 victory over Arkansas-Pine Bluff.  Lindsay Schwartz led the way with five aces, while sophomore setter Jennica Hagberg recorded four of her own.  Samia Salomao (3), Hristina Markova (2) and Kari Frazier (1) also finished the match with at least one ace of their own.

Markova led the offensive attack with nine kills, while Schwartz was close behind her with six.  Hagberg also ended the match with a match-high 24 assists and Salomao led the way with 13 digs.

Arkansas-Pine Bluff falls to 1-0 with the loss.

South Alabama 25, Arkansas-Pine Bluff 20

Holding a one point advantage (7-6) early on in the opening set, South Alabama stretched its lead out to seven over the next eight points.  USA rode its serving over the 7-1 run, recording three aces - two from Schwartz and one from Markova.  Schwartz and Markova also each had a kill during the Jag run.

After Arkansas-Pine Bluff pulled back to within one at 17-16, USA rattled off seven of the next nine points to stretch its lead back out to 24-18.Schwartz capped off the scoring spurt for South Alabama with her third ace of the set.  True freshman Oliva Mohler sealed the Jag victory three points later when the Vancleave, Miss., native slammed home her second kill of the match.

South Alabama 25, Arkansas-Pine Bluff 13

In the second set of the match, South Alabama wasted little time taking control and opened with a 9-3 run.  The Jaguar run was highlighted by a pair of aces from Salomao.  USA took its largest lead of the set thanks in part to another huge run, this one a 9-1 spurt.  Markova, Schwartz and Juliana Almeida ignited the run with three straight kills and Schwartz capped it off with her fourth ace of the match.  The Lions were able to get only as close as eight the rest of the way as the Jags went on to take a 2-0 advantage in the match with a 25-13 victory in the set.

South Alabama 25, Arkansas-Pine Bluff 13

Like in the second set, South Alabama wasted little time taking control opening the third frame with nine unanswered points.  Once again the Jag run was highlighted by South Alabama's serving, this time that of Hagberg, who recorded three of her four aces during the run.  Arkansas-Pine Bluff had no answer for the Jags, as USA went on to lead by as much as 18 (24-6).  UAPB did manage to narrow the final deficit and get as close as 24-13 after a quick 7-0 run of its own, but Lea Thurm finished the Lions off with her third kill of the set. 

South Alabama recorded it best attack percentage of the match in the final set, finishing with 11 kills on 22 attempts with only three attack errors for a .364 percentage.

MATCH TWO: SOUTH ALABAMA 3, CENTENARY 0

South Alabama picked up its second win of the day with a 3-0 (25-20, 25-22, 25-19) victory over Centenary (0-2).  Almeida had her second solid match of the day and paced all players with a match-high 12 kills.  The junior outside hitter also recorded a .370 hitting percentage and 10 digs to give her her eighth double-double of her career.  Schwartz also finished the match with eight kills and six block assists.  Tereza Bendlova recorded six kills and nine digs of her own.

Centenary was paced by Jennifer Kunze's seven kills and 11 digs.

South Alabama 25, Centenary 20

Centenary jumped out to a quick 5-1 lead in the opening set, but South Alabama answered the Centenary run with one of its own, outscoring the Ladies 8-1 over the next nine points.  USA tied the set up at 6-6 on a block assists from Hagberg and Schwartz.  The Jags then grabbed the next three points to take their first lead of the match.  With South Alabama holding its largest lead to that point at 15-11, Centenary reeled off five straight points and recaptured the lead 16-15 on one of Kunze's four kills in the opening frame.

Centenary didn't hold the lead long though as it committed two consecutive errors to put the Jags back out in front.  With the score knotted at 19-all, USA closed strong, taking six of the final seven points to take the first set 25-20.  Schwartz and Almeida posted back-to-back kills and Hagberg dumped in a kill of her own to seal win for the Jags.

South Alabama 25, Centenary 22

The two teams kept the second set relatively close the whole way through with the Jags unable to garner anything larger than a three-point lead for much of the set.  Holding just a 23-22 advantage late in the set, South Alabama picked up the final two points and go up in the match, 2-0 with the victory.  Bendlova gave USA the 25-22 win when the senior slammed home a kill.

South Alabama 25, Centenary 19

In the third set, South Alabama grabbed the first two points, but Centenary rattled off five consecutive points to take a 5-2 advantage.  The Ladies led by as many as four over the next several points, but USA hung around and trailing 15-12, finally re-took control of the set with a 12-1 run.  After a pair of Centenary attack errors, Bendlova tied the set back up at 15-15 and on the next point, Schwartz gave the Jags the lead for good with another kill.  During the pivotal run, the Watertown, Wis., native recorded three of her eight kills in the match. Bendlova later sealed the match for USA when her sixth kill of the night found the floor to give the Jags the 25-19 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).

NOTE:  With its 3-0 victory over Arkansas-Pine Bluff, South Alabama has now won four of its last five season-openers...The 15 aces against Arkansas-Pine Bluff are the most by the Jags since recorded 15 in the 2007 home opener versus Alabama State on Sept. 1, 2007...The five aces by Lindsay Schwartz against UAPB are also the most by a Jag since Juliana Almeida's five against Louisiana-Monroe (10/5/07)...The two wins also mark the second straight season, USA has opened with a 2-0 record.

-- USA --