Box Score - Winthrop 3, South Alabama 1

Box Score - East Tennessee State 3, South Alabama 0

STATESBORO, Ga. – The University of South Alabama volleyball team dropped a pair of matches on Friday at the Springhill Suites Invitational at Hanner Fieldhouse, falling to Winthrop during the morning and East Tennessee State in the afternoon.  

“Today, we just didn’t put forth a good effort as a team and came out very flat,” South Alabama head coach Nicole Keshock said.  “Hopefully tomorrow we will be able to come out and play with the right type of energy like we did on Thursday night.”

USA (5-9) will close out tournament action Saturday morning when the Jags take on Charleston Southern at 11 a.m. (CT).

MATCH ONE: Winthrop 3, South Alabama 1

In its first match of the day, fell in four sets to Winthrop, 3-1 (13-25, 22-25, 25-23, 19-25).

Juliana Almeida led USA offensively with 17 kills and 15 digs, while junior outside hitter Samia Salomao also recorded a double-double for the Jags with 15 kills and 18 digs of her own.  Jennica Hagberg had 47 assists and 12 for her second double-double in as many days.  Freshman defensive specialist Jenna Hassell posted her second-straight 20-dig performance, as well for USA.

Sara Felts paced Winthrop (3-7) with 17 kills, while Becca Torra added 11 kills of her own to go along with Kaley Viola’s 10 put aways.

SET ONE: Winthrop 25, South Alabama 13

Early in the first set with Winthrop holding a one point advantage at 8-7, the Eagles took control of the frame with a run of seven unanswered points.  During the run, Winthrop’s Carolyn Weed posted a pair of kills, while Kelsey Harrison dropped in a couple of aces to cap things off.  Kellie Sellers later gave WU its largest lead of the set at 22-10 with another ace for the Eagles, one of their five in the opening set.  From there, Winthrop went on to pick up the first set 25-13.

SET TWO: Winthrop 25, South Alabama 22

In the second set, South Alabama was able to keep it close early on, but Winthrop was able to extend its lead out to five (11-5) with a run of four-straight points.  The Jags kept battling over the next several points and eventually took a 16-15 lead after a kill from Jaclyn Nickels.  Later with the set tied at 18 points apiece, the Eagles took the lead for good after kills from Felts and Viola.  From there, Winthrop held on to capture the 25-22 second set win and go up 2-0 in the match.

SET THREE: South Alabama 25, Winthrop 23

Trailing by four early in the third set, it was South Alabama’s turn to push across a string of unanswered points.  Almeida capped off a 6-0 run and gave the Jags a 10-8 lead when the senior outside hitter slammed home her 11th kill of the match.  South Alabama continued to hold the momentum and eventually went on to lead by as many as four, but with the Jags leading 19-15 after a kill and a solo block from Mohler, Winthrop began to rally back.  The Eagles reeled off seven of the next eight points and reclaimed a 22-20 advantage on a Stephanie Palmer ace.  

USA kept fighting back and quickly tied the set back up at 23-23, following kills from Almeida and Salmao.  Coming out of a Winthrop time out, the Jags pushed across two more points and picked up the 25-23 third set victory.  Salomao slammed home her second-straight kill and then teamed up with Nickels to turn back an Eagle attack to seal the win.

SET FOUR: Winthrop 25, South Alabama 19

In the final set, the Eagles grabbed the lead early, but South Alabama kept fighting and held the deficit around the three to four point range for much of the set.  Winthrop though was eventually able to extend its lead out to as much as eight (24-16) after a Jaguar attack error, before taking the set and the match with the 25-19 victory.

MATCH TWO: East Tennessee State 3, South Alabama 0

In the second match of the day for the Jags, East Tennessee State used a balanced offensive attack as five players for the Bucs  (8-4) recorded six kills or better.  Megan Devine led the way with 11.

USA’s Salomao came up just short of recording her second double-double of the day, finishing with nine kills and 11 digs.  Mohler also chipped in with seven kills for South Alabama.

SET ONE: East Tennessee State 25, South Alabama 21

After trailing by as many as five early in the opening set versus East Tennessee State, South Alabama rallied back and grabbed its first lead of the match at 11-10 after kills from Torlandria Jones and Almeida.  Over much of the remainder of the first set, the two clubs exchanged the lead five time, never allowing the other to gain more than a one-point advantage on the other one until with the set tied at 21, the Bucs reeled off the final four points to take the opening capture the 25-21 win.  

SET TWO: East Tennessee State 25, South Alabama 17

The second set saw both clubs keep it close over the first third of the frame, but with USA holding an 8-7 lead, East Tennessee State was able to push across four-straight points to take the lead for good.  The four unanswered points also began a 10-2 run for the Bucs that saw ETSU’s lead grow to as much as seven.  The scoring spurt was highlighted by three kills from Jamie Stancliff.  East Tennessee held the momentum the rest of the frame and went on to take the set, 25-17.

SET THREE: East Tennessee State 3, South Alabama 0

In the final set, East Tennessee State took control right from the start, pushing across six of the first seven points and cruised to the 25-18 victory.  South Alabama was only able to get as close as four points the rest of the way, before falling by seven to the Bucs.  

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).