Box Score - Troy 3, South Alabama 1 (.pdf)

TROY, Ala. – Despite double-double performances from Savannah Stewart and Melissa Waelter, the University of South Alabama volleyball team dropped a 3-1 (21-25, 24-26, 25-17, 24-26) decision to Sun Belt East Division rival Troy at Sartain Hall on Thursday.  

“I thought Troy played a great match tonight,” South Alabama head coach Amy Hendrichovsky said.  “They gave great effort and wanted it more than us tonight.  At the end of the match, it was the little plays that got us and they were able to come up with the big points.  We had some great performances from our outside hitters.  One other positive we can take from this match is that in their gym, we continued to fight and at no point did we back down or give up.”

USA (12-11, 5-4 SBC) will now return home to host Louisiana-Lafayette on Sunday.  First serve is set for at 1 p.m. at Jag Gym.
Live stats versus the Ragin’ Cajuns can be accessed at www.USAJaguars.com.  Troy remains in second place in the division and improves to 16-8 overall and 7-2 in the conference.

Stewart paced the Jaguars offensively with 17 kills, while also registering a career-best 18 digs for her eighth double-double of the season.  Waelter recorded her third-straight and sixth double of the season with 16 kills and a career-high 19 digs.  Waelter also posted a team-best .364 hitting percentage and five total blocks – two solo and three assists.  Lindsay Schwartz added 13 kills and four block assists, while Jenna Hassell finished with 16 digs in the loss.

The Trojans were led by Blair Winston’s match-high 20 kills and .340 hitting percentage.  Kayla Pickart was close behind Winston with 17 kills and a .318 hitting percentage of her own.  Breanna Cullity was solid on both sides of the net, finishing with 11 kills and eight blocks – three solo and five assists – of her own.  Trojan setter Alexandra Alexander chipped in with 43 assists and 17 digs, while libero Courtney Cohen had a match-best 24 digs.

SET ONE: Troy 25, South Alabama 21
The two clubs exchanged points for most of the opening set.  USA’s Nikki Gittens gave the Jaguars a 14-13 on her third kill of the frame, but over the next four points, Troy took advantage of Jaguar errors and jumped out to a 17-14 lead.

The Trojans later extended their lead out to four (21-17) after a solo block from Alexander and held on to pick up the set from there.  Troy picked up the 25-21 first-set victory following a Jaguar serving error.

Both clubs got off to great offensive starts in the first frame as the Trojans posted a .394 hitting percentage, while South Alabama carded a .343.

Troy was led offensively in the set by the duo of Pickart (6) and Winston (5) which combined for 11 of the Trojans’ 15 kills.  Waelter paced the Jaguars with six kills of her own.

SET TWO: Troy 26, South Alabama 24
In the second set, Troy led by as much as six following three-straight Jaguar attack errors, but with the Trojans holding the 14-8 advantage, the Jaguars began to rally and chip away at the deficit.  Led by the play of Torlandria Jones – who had a kill and a pair of block assists over USA’s next six points – South Alabama was able to trim the deficit to one (15-14) on a block assists from Jones and Schwartz.  

Three points later, the Jaguars tied the set back up at 16-16 when Schwartz teamed up with Olivia Mohler to turn back another Trojan attack.  

The Trojans looked as if they were going to break things open four points later when with the set tied 18-18, Troy was able to push across five unanswered points to extend its lead.

With Troy sitting just two points away from taking the set, USA answered back with five-consecutive points of its own to tie the contest back up at 23-23.  

In extra points though, Pickart posted her 10th kill of the match for the Trojans to break a 24-24 tie.  Troy then went up two sets to none in the match after a Jaguar attack error – one of their 12 in the set.

Mohler, Waelter and Stewart each recorded four kills apiece in the set for USA, while Waelter also added 10 digs.  

SET THREE: South Alabama 25, Troy 17
South Alabama broke a 5-all tie early in the third set with a run of four-straight points.  USA took the 9-5 lead following a kill and a block assists from Waelter.

After a kill from Pickart on the next point, USA broke things open as the Jaguars exploded on a 9-1 run over the next 10 points.  Stewart added a pair of kills during the Jaguar run, while Schwartz also chipped in with a kill and a block assists.  Jones capped off the scoring and put South Alabama out in front 18-7 with a kill of her own.  

Troy kept battling and got as close as five (22-17), but the Jaguars didn’t allow the Trojans to get any closer as they went on to take the third set, 25-17.

After hitting a .067 in the previous set, South Alabama bounced back to register a .303 in the third.  Stewart led the way for the Jags both offensively and defensively as the freshman had five kills and seven digs in the frame.

SET FOUR: Troy 26, South Alabama 24
Troy rode its defense early on in the fourth set as Cullity had a solo block and a pair of block assists to help the Trojans jump out to a 6-1 lead.  

Trailing by five (8-3), South Alabama came to life and exploded on a 10-2 run to take a three-point lead of its own.  Schwartz provided a spark for the Jags during the scoring spurt as the senior had three kills and a block assists.  Waelter gave USA a 13-10 advantage when the sophomore dropped in an ace.  

The Trojans answered right back though with a run of seven straight points to retake the lead.  Winston had a pair of blocks and a kill during the Troy scoring spurt.  Cullity also added a pair of kills, the second of which giving the Trojans a 17-13 lead.  Cullity would go on to record four kills and five total blocks in the fourth set.

The Jags kept fighting and eventually tied the set back up at 21-21 on another kill from Schwartz – one of her seven in the set – but with the two clubs tied 24-24, Winston clinched the four-set victory for Troy when she recorded back-to-back kills to give the Trojans a 26-24 win.

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: South Alabama is now 37-22 in the all-time series with Troy.  The 63 kills and 60 assists versus the Trojans were both second-most for the Jaguars this season in a match.  With her four block assists versus Troy, USA’s Lindsay Schwartz moved into a tie with Angela Gattis for seventh on the programs total blocks chart.  Senior middle blocker Olivia Mohler also climbed the total blocks chart as she moved into ninth with her two block assists.  USA and Troy will square off again in a little over a week when the Jags host the Trojans on Saturday, Oct. 27.

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