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

MOBILE, Ala. – The University of South Alabama volleyball team was led by 17 kills from sophomore outside hitter Melissa Waelter Friday night but dropped a 3-1 (27-29, 21-25, 25-16, 25-18) Sun Belt Conference decision to East Division rival Middle Tennessee at Jag Gym.  The loss was the third-straight for the Jags – a tying season-high.

“This match was about momentum and energy,” South Alabama head coach Amy Hendrichovsky said.  “In the end, Middle Tennessee was able to find the momentum and energy to win the match.  Both sides executed fairly well and it was the little plays and finding a way to keep the momentum that proved to be the difference.”

USA (13-14, 6-6 SBC) will now host 19th-ranked Western Kentucky on Sunday at noon.  Live stats for the match versus the Toppers can be accessed at www.USAJaguars.com.   South Alabama will also honor its five seniors – Katariina Kananen, Olivia Mohler, Elina Strautniece, Valerie Podczasy and Lindsay Schwartz – before the match.  

Along with Waelter, Torlandria Jones and Savannah Stewart also finished in double figures for the Jags with 15 and 10 kills, respectively.  The 15 kills tied a career-high for Jones.  The redshirt sophomore also posted a team-best .565 hitting percentage in the loss.  Jenna Hassell also carded a match-high 15 digs.

Middle Tennessee improved to 10-20 on the season and 7-6 in the league with the win.  Chelsea Ross led the way with 17 kills, while Katie Bange added 14 and Brandi Waller finished with 13.  Shelby Anderton registered 50 assists, while Bri McCombs had 14 digs.

Tyler Richardson added nine kills to go along with her match-high five blocks – one solo and four assists.

SET ONE: Middle Tennessee 29, South Alabama 27
With Middle Tennessee trailing by just one (6-5), USA began to extend its lead after a kill from Schwartz and back-to-back put aways from Stewart pushed the lead out to four.  After a Jaguar serving error, South Alabama added three more points and took its largest lead of the set (12-6) following a kill from Nikki Gittens.

Coming out of a time out, the Blue Raiders began to rally back and picked up six of the next seven point to narrow the deficit to one (13-12).  Ross capped off the scoring for MTSU with a kill and a solo block.

Middle Tennessee hung around over the next several points and with USA still leading by one (18-17), the Blue Raiders pushed across three-straight points and took their first lead of the set (19-18) after a kill from Waller.
 
In extra points, both clubs set at set-point on two occasions before the Blue Raiders were able to break a 27-27 tie on Tyler Richardson’s back-to-back kills.

Both teams hit the ball extremely well in the opening set as South Alabama posted a .545 attack percentage and Middle Tennessee registered a .459.  Waelter and Jones had five kills each for the Jaguars, while Ross had six and Richardson had five for the Blue Raiders.

SET TWO: Middle Tennessee 25, South Alabama 21
USA opened up the second set by picking up three of the first points, but the Blue Raiders came right back and took a 5-3 lead following a kill from Bange.

With the set tied 6-6, Middle Tennessee raced out to a four-point advantage as the Raiders rattled off five of the next six points.  MTSU took an 11-7 lead when Ross and Richardson teamed up to turn back a Jaguar attack.

Still trailing by four (16-12) South Alabama attempted to rally back and trimmed the deficit to 23-21 late in the set on a kill from Jones – her 10th of the match, but Ross posted two more kills to give Middle Tennessee the 25-21 victory.  Ross had six kills in the set for MTSU.

SET THREE: South Alabama 25, Middle Tennessee 16
The third set remained close over the first half of the frame, but with the two clubs tied 13-13, the Jaguars grabbed the momentum and reeled off six unanswered points to take the lead for good.  Stewart began the scoring with a kill and Waelter added two kills of her own, while Olivia Mohler also aided the run with a pair of block assists.

From there, South Alabama held control and went on to pick up the set 25-16 after another kill from Stewart.  The freshman outside hitter posted five of her 10 kills in the third set.  

After hitting the ball well the first two sets, committing just six attack errors, the Blue Raiders struggled in the third, posting 10 errors and hitting a .033.

SET FOUR: Middle Tennessee 25, South Alabama 18
South Alabama looked as if it were going to even up the match in the fourth set as the Jaguars jumped out to a six-point advantage (14-8) on a kill from Jones.  Waelter also spurred on the offense as the sophomore posted four kills during that stretch.   

However, from that point on, the Blue Raiders quickly regained the momentum and began their comeback with six-straight points.  Monet Marshal ignited the MTSU run with a kill and Ross added two more kills, the second tying the contest back up at 14-14.  

Later in the set, Middle Tennessee took the lead for good when it broke a 17-17 tie with a run of five more unanswered points.  The Blue Raider defense later clinched the match with when Richardson and Anderton combined to block a Jaguar attack, giving MTSU a 25-18 victory.  In the set, Middle Tennessee had seven blocks – one solo and six assists.

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 falls to 1-18 in the series with the loss.  USA has now lost three-straight matches – the tying the longest losing streak of the season for the Jaguars.  Junior libero Jenna Hassell moved past former Jag Samia Salomao into fourth-place on the program’s career digs list with her 15 digs against the Blue Raiders.  With her three block assists, senior middle blocker Olivia Mohler moved into fourth on the career block assists list, passing Keturah Carter.  Katariina Kananen also recorded her 2,200th assists in the match for South Alabama.

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