MOBILE, Ala. – The University of South Alabama volleyball team picked up a pair of victories Saturday, defeating Nicholls State 3-0 and Jackson State 3-2, to close out the Jaguar Classic at Jag Gym.

“We talked to our players about being prepared for every match,” South Alabama head coach Nicole Keshock said.  “Some of our players are still learning how to do that.  With have to be more consistent at coming ready to play and have six, seven, eight players ready to play every time we step on the court.  We deserved to go five games against Jackson State, because we didn’t play well.  Regardless, it’s good to go 2-0 today and we are looking forward to next weekend.”

South Alabama (6-4) will close out the non-conference tournament schedule next weekend when the Jags head to Prairie View, Texas to compete at the Lady Panther Invitational (Sept. 18-19).

MATCH ONE: South Alabama 3, Nicholls State 0

South Alabama opened up its tournament play Saturday afternoon with a 3-1 (26-24, 25-22, 27-29, 25-20) victory over Nicholls State.  Juliana Almeida led the Jaguar offense and tied a career-high with 20 kills.  The San Jose Dos Campos, Brazil native also posted 11 digs to give her her fourth double-double of season.  Fellow junior Hristina Markova also tallied double figures with a season-best 18 kills.  Sophomore setter Jennica Hagberg also carded a career-best 54 assists in the win.

Nicholls State (3-6) was paced by Rachel Yezak’s 11 kills.  Danielle Daigle also finished with a match-high 16 digs in the loss.

One key stat in the Jaguar victory was at the net, where USA recorded 24 total blocks (one block solo and 23 block assists) compared to just 10 block assists by the Colonels.

SET ONE: South Alabama 26. Nicholls State 24

In the opening set of the match, the two clubs kept things close for a majority of the set.  After USA’s Markova cut the Jag deficit to 19-18, the visiting Colonels pushed across three-straight points to stretch its lead out to 22-18.  Coming out of a time out though, South Alabama’s Olivia Mohler slammed home a kill to start a string of four unanswered points.  After back-to-back aces from Tereza Bendlova, USA knotted the contest back up at 22 on a block assists from Mohler and Hagberg.. 

NSU later retook to lead (24-23) on a Rachel Spreen kill, but the Jags recorded the final three points of the set to pick up the win.  Juliana Almeida sealed the 26-24 victory when the junior outside hitter recorded her seventh kill of the first frame.

SET TWO: South Alabama 25, Nicholls State 22

With South Alabama trailing 8-7 in the second set, the Jags rattled off four straight-points – three coming off kills from Almeida and an ace by Lindsay Schwartz.  Nicholls State rallied back and tied the contest back up at 12-12 on a Jasmine Harris put away.  Later in the set, Yezak put the Colonels back on top (15-14) when her seventh kill of the match.

Tied at 21-all, USA closed strong and took a 2-0 match-lead into the locker room, reeling off four of the final five points of the set.  Schwartz and Markova clinched the 25-22 victory when the Jag duo turned away a shot from Yezak.

Offensively, South Alabama was very efficient in the second set, recording a .357 hitting percentage.  USA carded 17 kills on 42 attempts, while committing just two errors during the set.

SET THREE: Nicholls state 29,, South Alabama 27

With USA leading by one at 14-13 in the third set, Nicholls State pushed across four consecutive points and took three-point lead on a block assists from Amy Whitehead and Amy Beshir.  USA then tied the match back up at 17 three-points later on a Colonel attack error.

Later in the set with Nicholls State sitting one point away from victory at 24-23, the Jags looked as if they were going to rally and take the match.  The Colonels committed three-straight attack errors to put South Alabama one-point away from the win, but the Jags couldn’t get the point it needed and Nicholls State eventually picked up the match victory when Whitehead dropped in a kill for the 29-27 set-three victory.

SET FOUR: South Alabama 25, Nicholls State 20

Trailing by one early in the fourth set, South Alabama took the lead for good with an 8-1 run over the next nine points.  Almeida capped off the scoring spurt for the Jags with a pair of kills and gave South Alabama a 14-8 advantage.  USA stretched its lead out to 17-10 after a pair of block assists, but a string of four Jaguar errors over the next five points pulled the Colonels to within two (17-15).  South Alabama’s Allegra Pratt ended the NSU run and later sealed the 25-20 win when the Fort Worth, Texas native slammed home her seventh kill of the match in the middle of the court.

MATCH TWO: South Alabama vs. Jackson State

In the finale, South Alabama outlasted Jackson State to pick up a 3-2 (25-12, 20-25, 25-18, 16-25, 15-8) victory over Jackson State at the Jaguar Classic.

Markova was one of three Jags to finish the match in double figures, posting a match-high 14 kills.  Almeida added 13 kills and 13 digs to give the junior her second double-double of the day and fifth of the season.  Schwartz also carded 11 kills for the Jags in the win. 

JSU (1-9) used a balanced offensive attack against the Jags as four players carded double-digit kill tallies in the loss.

SET ONE: South Alabama 25, Jackson State 12

After exchanging the first four points of the match, South Alabama pushed across three-straight points – two Almeida aces and a kill from Mohler – to take the early lead.  Leading 11-9, the Jags took control of the set with a 10-2 run.  Almeida ignited the run with one of her two kills in the set and Markova and Schwartz then capped things off and put USA up 21-11 when the duo combined to block a Ebonee Dawson shot.  Markova later closed out the 25-12 victory for the Jags with a kill and back-to-back aces.

South Alabama hit a blistering .562 in the first set, converting 10 of its 16 attempts, while committing just one error.  The Jags also had nine block assists during the set.

SET TWO: Jackson State 25, South Alabama 20

Jackson State came out in the second set and quickly grabbed the first three-points.  The Tigers rode the early momentum and maintained the lead for the remainder of set.  With USA facing a seven-point deficit (22-15), the Jags attempted to rally back with four-straight points and cut the JSU lead to 22-19 on a Samia Salomao ace.  Dawson ended the scoring spurt though with a kill for Jackson State and Brittany Larkin later gave the Tigers the 25-20 win with a kill of her own.

After committing just one attack error in the first set, USA recorded seven costly errors in the second set and managed to hit .083.  The Tigers on the other hand recorded a .303 attack percentage in the set.

SET THREE: South Alabama 25, Jackson State 18

With the match tied at one set apiece, South Alabama broke open a one-point game (9-8) and pushed across six of the next seven points and grabbed a 15-9 lead on a Tiger attack error.  Mohler highlighted the mini-run for the Jags with a pair of kills.  Schwartz later put South Alabama up 21-14 when the sophomore dropped in one of her 11 kills.

JSU was unable to make a run at the Jags the rest of the way and Almeida eventually sealed the 25-18 win with another kill.

SET FOUR: Jackson State 25, South Alabama 16

The Tigers broke a 9-9 tie in the fourth set and grabbed the lead for good in the set, outscoring USA 7-1 over the next eight points.  Kameron Boggan gave Jackson State the 16-10 with one of her 10 kills on the night.  South Alabama could draw no closer the rest of the way and the Tigers evened the match with the 25-16 fourth set victory.

SET FIVE: South Alabama 15, Jackson State 8

Trailing 6-5 in the fifth and deciding set, South Alabama used a pivotal 8-0 run to take the set and the match.  Almeida and Schwartz led the Jaguar charge during the run, each recording a pair of kills and combining for a block assists that gave USA a 13-6 lead.  Mohler later slammed home her eight kill of the night to give South Alabama the 15-8 win.

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).

NOTES: Junior outside hitter Juliana Almeida tied a career-high with 20 kills in the 3-1 victory over Nicholls State…Her previous tally of 20 came against Florida Atlantic on Sept. 28, 2007…With her two double-doubles on Saturday, Almeida also improved her double-double totals for the season to five and 12 for her career…Sophomore setter Jennica Hagberg also set a new career-high with 54 assists against Nicholls State.  Freshman middle blocker Olivia Mohler recorded a career-best 10 total blocks against the Colonels... Southern Miss’ Kelsea Seymour (MVP), Lauren Sears, Caitlin Clarke, South Alabama’s - Olivia Mohler, Hristina Markova and Nicholls State’s Rachel Yezak were each selected to the all-tournament team.