Middle Tennessee 3, South Alabama 0 (.pdf)

MOBILE, Ala. – Middle Tennessee used a pair of big runs in sets two and three to rally and sweep the University of South Alabama volleyball team 3-0 (17-25, 20-25, 22-25) Sunday afternoon at Jag Gym.

“I think that we contained Middle Tennessee the best that we could,” South Alabama head coach Nicole Keshock said.  “It just came down to us beating ourselves.  On their big runs, we had several serving and hitting errors.  Our hitting errors weren’t really caused by their block.  It was us just hitting the ball out of bounds.  Those are unforced errors. When you are in rally scoring, the team with the least amount of unforced errors usually wins.  We created the most unforced errors today.”

USA (9-17, 4-10 SBC) will now close out the regular season when the Jaguars welcome Florida International and Florida Atlantic next weekend.  South Alabama will take on the Panthers on Friday evening at 7 p.m.  With the win, the Blue Raiders pick up their 15th-straight win and improve to 18-9 on the year and 14-1 in the Sun Belt.

MTSU’s Ashley Adams led all players with 13 kills, while Alyssa Wistrick came off the bench to chip in with eight of her own.  As a team, the Blue Raiders finished the match with a .301 hitting percentage.

South Alabama was paced offensively by Olivia Mohler’s nine kills.  The junior middle blocker also hit .400 and had a pair of service aces.  

SET ONE: Middle Tennessee 25, South Alabama 17

In the opening set, South Alabama raced out to a early 5-2 advantage after kills from Mohler and Melissa Waelter.  Holding the three-point advantage, USA didn’t hold the momentum long as Middle Tennessee came right back and pushed across five unanswered points to take its first lead of the match.  Monet Marshall’s kill landed just inside the back line to cap off the run and give the Blue Raiders the 7-5 lead.

Over the next several points, the two clubs exchanged the lead a couple of times, but with South Alabama leading 12-10, MTSU rattled off its second 5-0 run of the first set and took a 15-12 advantage on a Jaguar attack error.  

From there, the Blue Raiders would continue to control the rest of the frame, eventually going on to take the set, 25-17.  Middle Tennessee held a huge advantage in the hitting category in the first set as the Blue Raiders posted a .429 (12-3-21), while USA recorded a .000 (9-9-26).

SET TWO: Middle Tennessee 25, South Alabama 20

Middle Tennessee opened the second set by taking five of the first six points, but South Alabama was able to respond with an 8-2 run.  USA’s Katariina Kananen and Ros combined for a block to give the Jags a one point lead and on the next point, Ros slammed home a kill to put South Alabama up 9-7.  

Coming out of a time out though, the Blue Raiders retook control and ratted off a 13-2 run.  During the scoring spurt, MTSU posted six of its eight block assists in the set, the last from Marshall and Morgan Peterson that capped off the run and extended the Blue Raider lead to nine at 20-11.  Peterson was involved in all four of the block assists during that stretch.

South Alabama tried to mount a rally and trimmed the deficit to 23-20 after a MTSU attack error, but that would be as close as the Jaguars would get as Wistrick recorded a kill of her own and Oyinlola Oladinni and Peterson teamed up for another block – their third of the frame – to seal the 25-20 win and give the Blue Raiders the 2-0 set lead.

In the second set, Adams recorded seven of Middle Tennessee’s 12 kills, while USA managed to finish the frame with just seven total kills.

SET THREE: Middle Tennessee 25, South Alabama 22

The Jaguars controlled most of the third set, leading by as much as five (14-9) after kills from Mohler and Samia Salomao midway through the frame.  As it did in the previous set, the Blue Raiders used a big run to get back in the set and take the lead.  Trailing by five, Middle Tennessee came out of a time out and reeled off 10 of the next 11 points.  Szvios – who had three of her seven kills in the match during the scoring run – ignite the Blue Raider scoring and after a USA hitting miscue, Middle Tennessee held a four-point advantage (19-15).

South Alabama came right back and answered with six of the next seven points and took a 21-20 lead after an ace from Jenna Hassell, but with the frame tied at 22-22, Middle Tennessee was able to end the match with three-straight points and capture the 25-22 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).

NOTES: With the loss, South Alabama drops to 0-16 in the all-time series and has now lost 10 of the last 11 meetings with Middle Tennessee in straight-sets.  The .044 hitting percentage versus Middle Tennessee marked the second-lowest offensive percentage this season.  USA’s .010 against Central Florida in the season-opener was the lowest.

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