Box Score - South Alabama 3, Florida Atlantic 2

BOCA RATON, Fla. – After dropping the first two sets of its match against Florida Atlantic, the University of South Alabama volleyball team rallied back to take the final three and defeat the Owls 3-2 (22-25, 15-25, 25-15, 25-20, 15-7) Friday evening at FAU Arena.  With the win, USA earns a berth into next week’s Sun Belt Conference Championships that will be held in Murfreesboro, Tenn.

“I think we came out a little tight in the first two sets, but I am extremely proud that our girls were able to come back,” South Alabama head coach Nicole Keshock said.  “We knew that a key for us tonight in the match would be our blocking.  We didn’t block a lot of balls the first two sets, but after we shock off the nerves, we just came alive on defense.  This was a very important match for us tonight.”

South Alabama (11-19, 6-9 SBC) ended the night with one solo block and 20 block assists for a total of 11 blocks, its third-highest tally of the season.  Individually, senior middle blocker led the Jags with six block assists. 

“Earning a berth into the conference tournament is so important for our program,” Keshock said.  “We have several young players that are contributing for us right now – three freshmen and two sophomores.  I think it is just important they understand this is a tradition that we want to set.  We strive to make it to the conference tournament every season.”

The six wins are the most-ever conference wins for the program in a season.  The Jags will now close out the regular season on Saturday when they travel to take on Florida International.  First serve is set for 5:30 p.m. (CT).The tournament appearance will be the second for the Jags in the past three seasons and the 16th overall for the program. 

Two key components in the Jags’ victory over the Owls were outside hitters Samia Salomao and Juliana Almeida.  Salomao recorded a career-best 19 kills, while also finishing with 15 digs to give the junior her 13th double-double of the season.  Almeida also posted 19 kills and four block assists in the win for South Alabama.  Freshman libero Jenna Hassell also came up big for USA as she posted a match-high 17 digs.

Florida Atlantic (13-18, 4-11 SBC) was led offensively by Anne Vaughan’s 20 kills.  Vaughan also had seven total blocks – one solo and six block assists – for the Owls. 

SET ONE: Florida Atlantic 25, South Alabama 22
In the opening set, FAU jumped out to an early six-point advantage (10-4) after a Jaguar ball-handling error, but over the next several points, South Alabama began to fight its way back and eventually trimmed the deficit to 22-20 after Nickels and Olivia Mohler teamed up to turn back an Owl attack.  Three points later, Mohler slammed home a kill to cut the FAU lead to 23-22, but Krystyna Dzmuranova and Darija Sataric came right back and posted back-to-back kills to clinch the 25-22 first-set victory for Florida Atlantic.

SET TWO: Florida Atlantic 25, South Alabama 15
With the second set tied at 10-10, Florida Atlantic’s Georgia Robinson ignited a 9-0 run to help the Owls take control of the frame.  Robinson and Vaughan had two kills apiece during the scoring spurt for FAU, while the Jags also committed four attack errors during that same stretch.  Vaughan and Christiana Wallinger later combined to block a pair of Jaguar attacks and give FAU the 25-15 victory.  The Owls recorded 11 total blocks during the set and held USA to a -.049 attack percentage.

SET THREE: South Alabama 25, Florida Atlantic 15

Coming out of the intermission trailing two sets to none, South Alabama seemed to find its rhythm offensively, hitting a .367.  USA grabbed eight of the first 10 points in the set, including the last six of the run.  Salomao gave the Jags the 8-2 advantage with one of her five kills in the set.  From there, South Alabama maintained the momentum from there and never allowed FAU to get any closer as the Jags cruised to the 25-15 third-set win.

SET FOUR: South Alabama 25, Florida Atlantic 20
Holding an early two-point advantage (6-4), South Alabama took control of the fourth set with another 8-2 run and stretched its lead out to eight (14-6).  During the run, USA turned to its frontline defense as it posted seven total blocks, including three block assists from freshman Torlandria Jones. 

The Owls battled back and pulled to within one (21-20) following a kill from Dzmuranova, but that was as close as they would get.  South Alabama quickly came right back and picked up the final four points of the set to capture the 25-20 victory.  Almeida clinched the frame with two-straight kills.  Both Almeida and Salomao paced the offense as the duo each recorded five kills during the fourth set.

SET FIVE: South Alabama 15, Florida Atlantic 7
In the fifth and final set, Florida Atlantic pushed across the first point, but South Alabama responded to the Dzmuranova kill with six unanswered points and from there never looked back.  The Jaguar defense again came up big as Nickels and Katariina Kananen combined for two block assists each, including the one that capped off the scoring.  FAU picked up the next two points in the frame, but Salomao and Almeida sealed the comeback victory as the combined to record five of USA’s next six points – four kills from Almeida and two kills from Salomao.  Holding match-point, Kananen dropped in an ace to give South Alabama the 15-7 victory.  Kananen did an outstanding job running the Jaguar offense, as the freshman recorded 50 assists.

USA saved its best offensive performance of the night for the final frame as the Jags recorded nine kills on 16 attempts, while committing just one attack error for a .500 hitting percentage.

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: With the win, South Alabama earns its second Sun Belt tournament appearance in the last three seasons and the 16th in the program’s history.  USA will go into the tournament as the eighth-seed and face either Western Kentucky or Middle Tennessee.  The win versus the Owls was also the first time, South Alabama has captured a victory in Boca Raton.  USA had been 0-4 in its previous attempts there.  The 19 kills by Salomao were a new career-best.