Match Notes (.pdf)

MOBILE, Ala. – The University of South Alabama volleyball team will open up the 2011 campaign this weekend when the Jags compete at the Courtyard by Marriott/UCF Classic.  USA will begin the tournament with a pair of matches on Friday – vs. Central Florida at Noon (CT) and vs. North Florida at 5 p.m. (CT) – and then close out play on Saturday when the Jags take on Michigan State at 4 p.m. (CT) at The Venue on the Central Florida campus.

“I think this is a great first tournament for us,” South Alabama head coach Nicole Keshock said.  “Central Florida and North Florida are two teams that play a similar style to the teams that we will see in the Sun Belt.  Our match with Michigan State should also help prepare us for the conference schedule.”

Live stats for all six of the tournament matches will be available at either www.usajaguars.com.   USA’s match versus Central Florida will also be available to view over the web at ucfathletics.cstv.com.  

Heading into the tournament, Keshock has been pleased with the way the Jaguars have prepared for the season opener.

“We finished our preseason camp with two great practices,” Keshock said.  “Things seem to be starting to click as a team.  We’ve seen some great individual improvement, now we are just looking for the team to start to gel.  Coming off the close of camp, we are ready to play someone else.”

The Jaguars enter the 2011 season returns four starters and nine letterwinners from last year’s squad, which advanced to the Sun Belt tournament for the second time in the last three seasons a year ago.   South Alabama also welcomes the addition of four newcomers to the roster.

Highlighting the list of returnees on the offensive side of the net is senior outside hitter Samia Salomao.  As a junior, Salomao led the club with 309 kills and averaged 2.69 kps, while also carding a team-best 13 double-doubles and 15 double-figure kill matches.

One key to the success for the Jaguars in 2011 will be who else will step in and fill the void of graduated senior Juliana Almeida.  Almeida - a four-year starter - led the team in kills per set and ranked second with nearly 300 kills a year ago.

Junior Olivia Mohler is one possibility to help out Salomao.  The Vancleave, Miss., native ranked fourth on the club in kills (180) and kps (1.84) as she came off the bench while transitioning to the outside hitter position.  She now returns to the middle were she started 25 matches as a freshman and ranked second on the club in blocks with 61 in 2009.

Junior college transfer Elina Strautneice and freshmen Maureen Ros, Melissa Waelter and Amber Wyatt should also help out on offense.

On the defensive side, USA returns starting libero Jenna Hassell.  Hassell began the year in the defensive specialist role, but took over the libero position midway through the season.  The Niceville, Fla., native paced the club with 408 digs and 3.55 digs per set - ninth-best in the Sun Belt.  She also finished with double-digit dig tallies in 21 of her 32 matches, including six with 20 or more.  Her 408 digs in 2010 ranked as the seventh-most for a season at South Alabama.  Salomao will be just as valuable on defense as she was close behind Hassell with 3.27 dps.

At the net, USA will be one player short as sophomore middle blocker Torlandria Jones will miss all of the 2011 campaign due to a torn knee ligament suffered over the summer.

South Alabama will open up play versus the tournament-host Central Florida Friday afternoon.  While the Golden Knights do have to replace all-Conference USA performer Kristin Fisher - who led the team with 495 kills and 4.27 kills per set - Central Florida does return three other offensive weapons in junior Evija Vilde and sophomores Angelica Crump and Nichole Riedel.  All three players posted over 200 kills during the 2010 season, in which UCF finished with a 16-16 mark and a 9-11 record in CUSA.

On the defensive side of the net, Riedel and fellow middle blocker Tony McCutcheon return to anchor the Golden Knight defense up front.  Riedel paced the club with 85 total blocks, while McCutcheon was right behind her with 76. 

Junior libero Meredith Murphy also returns after a solid sophomore season in which she posted 4.14 digs per set - eighth best in the league.  As a club, UCF averaged 14.9 per set in 2010.

The match versus the Golden Knights will mark the first meeting between the Jags and the Golden Knights since the 1994 season.  UCF has won all five of the previous meetings in the series.

In USA’s second match of the opening day, the Jags will take on North Florid.  UNF returns five starters and eight letterwinners from last year’s team, while also welcoming seven newcomers. UNF was picked to finish eighth in the preseason poll earlier this month. The Ospreys finished sixth in their league last season and made their first appearance in the A-Sun Conference Tournament.

Highlighting the list of returnees is preseason all-conference selection junior outside hitter Paige Pridgeon.  Last season she was named second team all-conference after leading the Ospreys in kills per set and ranking second in the conference and 47th in the nation with 3.9. Pridgeon had 24 matches with double-digit kills, including four matches with 20 or more. In addition, she was second on the team in digs per set, averaging 2.69 per set.

In the defensive backcourt, junior libero Nicole Baran returns after leading the club for the second straight year in digs with 436 and 4.15 per set.  The St. Augustine, Fla., native also ranked fifth in the Atlantic Sun in digs.

The match versus the Jags will mark just the second meeting between the two schools as North Florida picked up a 3-1 victory in the only previous meeting at the 2005 Jaguar Classic in Mobile, Ala.

South Alabama’s final opponent of the weekend is Big 10 member Michigan State.  The Spartans enter the season returning nine letterwinners and five starters from last season’s squad.  The lone starter lost for MSU was Megan Schatzle - who led the team with 3.03 kills per set. 

MSU does return it’s three other top offensive performers in seniors Jenilee Rathje, Kyndra Abron and Becca Zlabis.  Rathje was second on the club with 2.70 kills per set and posted an outstanding .340 hitting percentage, which ranked sixth in Big 10.  Abron and Zlabis also posted over two kills a set in 2010, averaging 2.46 and 2.28 per set, respectively. 

Alexis Matthews - a 6-3 middle blocker - had an outstanding season at the net a year ago, as she ranked fifth in the league in blocks with 1.27 per set as a red shirt freshman.  She was the only freshman in the league to rank in the category and is the only returning player from the top 10.  She ended the year with 127 blocks - 18 solo and 109 assists.

The match with Michigan State will mark just the second one between the two schools and the fourth for the Jags against a Big 10 opponent.  The Spartans took a 3-2 victory over USA back during the 1989 season at the South Alabama Invitational in Mobile, Ala.  South Alabama’s only other matches versus an opponent from the league came against Indiana (1995) and Minnesota (1987)

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).