Box Score - Georgia Southern 3, South Alabama 2


STATESBORO, Ga. – After getting off to a poor start and dropping the first two sets, the University of South Alabama volleyball team rallied to take the next two, but couldn’t complete the comeback as Georgia Southern held on for the 3-2 (13-25, 13-25, 25-19, 25-23, 5-15) win Thursday night in the opening match of the Springhill Suites Invitational held at Hanner Fieldhouse. 

“Georgia Southern is very solid team with a balanced offense,” South Alabama head coach Nicole Keshock said.  “They are definitely the best team that we have seen to this point.  Against them you have to use a disciplined blocking attack and it took us about a set-and-a-half to catch up to that.  That’s what proved to be the difference for us.  I think our team seeing that we can compete and comeback against a solid team will help us and hopefully be a good learning experience.”

The Jags (5-7) will return to action on Friday with a pair of matches, beginning with Winthrop at 9 a.m. (CT) and East Tennessee State at 4 p.m.  Georgia Southern improves to 5-6 with the five-set victory.

Offensively, senior middle blocker Jaclyn Nickels led the Jags with a career-best 14 kills, while junior outside hitter Samia Salomao recorded her fifth double-double of the season with 13 kills and 15 digs.  Junior setter Jennica Hagberg also had a solid effort for USA with 42 assists and 10 digs of her own.   Jag freshman Jenna Hassell led the team with a career-high 20 digs.

Georgia Southern had four player finish the match with double-digit kill tallies, paced by Moriah Bellimissimo and Bethany Sanford’s 13 kills apiece.  The duo also had 19 and 14 digs, respectively.  Parker Small added 13 kills, while Hannah Nelson chipped in with 11.  Eagle setter Katy Van Dyke had 46 assists and a match-high 22 digs.

SET ONE: Georgia Southern 25, South Alabama 13

GSU grabbed the momentum right out of the gate, reeling off the first five points of the match.  Van Dyke highlighted the early Eagle run with a pair of service aces.  Over a majority of the match, South Alabama was able to hang around, keeping the deficit around the 4-6 point range.

Leading by six (15-9), the Eagles closed strong reeling off 10 of the final 14 points to take the early momentum with the 25-13 victory.  Down the stretch, Sanford and Small led the way, each posting a pair of kills during GSU’s final five points.

SET TWO: Georgia Southern 25, South Alabama 13

Like the opening set, GSU grabbed the lead early, picking up the first three points of the second set.  Nickels slammed home a  kill for the Jags to bring them within one at 6-5, but the Eagles came right back and reeled off eight of the next 10 points to extend their lead out to 14-7.  Sanford gave GSU the seven-point lead when she posted her sixth kill of the match. 

USA was able to get as close as 16-11 after kills from Torlandria Jones and Olivia Mohler, but the Eagles came right back with four more unanswered points and took their largest lead of the frame (20-11) after back-to-back kills from Enjoli Johnson.  Lauren LaRocque later sealed the 25-13 victory with another GSU ace.

SET THREE: South Alabama 25, Georgia Southern 19

In the third set, the Eagles look like they were going to begin the frame like the previous two sets, but after giving up two of the first three points, South Alabama charged right back and claimed its first lead of the match at 6-2.  Leading the way for the Jags during the scoring spurt was Juliana Almeida and Salomao, who each had two kills apiece. 

Georgia Southern came right back though and tied the contest back up at 9-9 after a Jaguar attack error and then on the next point reclaimed the lead following an ace from Small – one of her two in the match.

USA kept battling and three points later grabbed the momentum back when Almeida and Jones teamed up to turn back two-straight shots.  South Alabama maintained control over the next several points and used the frontline defense again to extend its lead out to four (16-12) after block assists from Almeida and Nickels. 

The Eagles didn’t allow South Alabama to stretch its lead out any farther and quickly ran off five of the next six points to tie the set back up at 17-17.  The final three points of the run came courtesy of three attack errors from the Jags.

Coming out of a time out, Nickels blasted home her two more kills and after a GSU point, Salomao put USA out in front 20-18.  Again though, Georgia Southern trimmed the Jag lead to one on the next point, but South Alabama closed strong with five unanswered points to pick up the 25-19 third set win.  Nickels again ignited the Jaguar rally with a kill and Hassell dropped in an ace of her own.  GSU also committed three attack errors down the stretch to help USA capture the five-point victory.

SET FOUR: South Alabama 25, Georgia Southern 23

Riding the momentum from the victory in the previous set, South Alabama pushed across the first three points to hold the early lead.  GSU was able to narrow the deficit to one over the next several points, but following a two consecutive kills from Salomao, and an Eagle offensive miscue, USA held a five-point lead at 13-8.

With South Alabama holding a 21-17 lead following another kill from Almeida, Georgia Southern rallied back and tied the set up at 23-all after a kill from Van Dyke and a USA attack error.  Nelson also had three of her 11 kills during the run.  On the next two points though, Nickels came up with two more clutch kills to help the Jags even the match at 2-2 and give USA the 25-23 fourth-set win. 

SET FIVE: Georgia Southern 15, South Alabama 5

Leading by one early in the final frame, Georgia Southern ended the Jaguar comeback hopes when the Eagles ran off five unanswered points to grab a 9-3 advantage.  USA had no answer from there and Sanford sealed the 15-5 set victory for GSU with her 13th kill of the night.

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).