Box Score - Florida Atlantic 3, South Alabama 2 (.pdf)

BOCA RATON, Fla.  – The University of South Alabama volleyball team, looking to secure a berth in this year’s Sun Belt Conference tournament, will have to wait one more match as the Jaguars dropped a 3-2 (22-25, 25-21, 19-25, 25-23, 7-15) road decision to Florida Atlantic on Friday at FAU Arena.

USA (13-16, 6-8 SBC) now faces a must win situation as it heads into its regular season finale.  With a win over Florida International on Saturday, the Jaguars will earn the seventh seed in the league tourney.  With a loss, USA’s season will come to an end.  FIU upset Troy on Friday to move into contention for a seed in the SBC tournament.

Live stats for the match versus Florida International can be accessed at www.USAJaguars.com.

Senior middle blocker Olivia Mohler led the way for the Jaguars with 14 kills and a .482 hitting percentage.  Melissa Waelter and Torlandria Jones also chipped in with eight kills apiece.  Waelter also finished with 10 digs, while Jones led the club with seven block assists – tying a season-high for the redshirt sophomore.

As a club, USA posted 20 block assists and one solo block in the match.

Jenna Hassell paced USA in the backcourt with 19 digs.

FAU improved to 7-18 on the season and 2-12 in the league.  The win snapped a seven-match skid for the Owls.  Alex Pizzocheri was one of four Florida Atlantic players to end the night in double digits, posting 21 kills and 12 digs.  Chandler Hatton, Thacilli Pereira and Darija Sataric also added 10 kills each.  Cintia Nightingale also added 18 digs and four service aces.  

SET ONE: Florida Atlantic 25, South Alabama 22
Neither club was really able to pull away from the other over the first portion of the opening set, but after Mohler tied the frame (18-18) with a kill, FAU reeled off four-straight points to stretch out its advantage.  Hatton and Pizzocheri began the scoring with a kill each before a pair of Jaguar errors.

USA trimmed the deficit to one (23-22) after a Owl serving error, but Sara Stoll’s kill and the Jaguars’ seventh attack error of the frame gave FAU the 25-22 first-set win.  

Pizzocheri had six of her kills in the opening set.

SET TWO: South Alabama 25, Florida Atlantic 21
Pereira put Florida Atlantic out in front by five (10-5) in the second set, but South Alabama pushed across eight of the next 10 points.  Mohler began the scoring with Jaguar run with another kills.  Lindsay Schwartz and Jones also had a pair of block assists during the scoring spurt.  Savannah Stewart capped off the run and gave USA a 13-12 lead with a kill of her own.  

Tied 14-14 three points later, South Alabama took the lead for good with four more unanswered points.  

From there, FAU only got as close as two.  The Jaguars went on to take the set and pick up the 25-21 victory following the Owls’ 12th attack error of the frame.

SET THREE: Florida Atlantic 25, South Alabama 19
In the third set, Florida Atlantic grabbed the first five points and never looked back Pizzocheri led the Owl run as she had a kill and two service aces.  

FAU maintained control for the remainder of the set, leading by as much as seven, before taking the 25-19 victory.  

SET FOUR: South Alabama 25, Florida Atlantic 23
In the fourth set, it was South Alabama who jumped out to the early lead, opening up the frame with a 7-3 spurt.

With USA holding a 13-7 lead, Florida Atlantic rallied back and outscored the Jaguars 10-3 over the next 13 points.  During the Owl run, Pizzocheri, Hatton and Sataric each had two kills for FAU during the run. Hatton gave FAU its first lead of the set (17-16) with a kill.

The two clubs kept it close over the remainder of the set until with the frame tied 23-23, Deanna Canfield and Nikki Gittens slammed home a kill each to give USA the 25-23 win and force a fifth set.

SET FIVE:  Florida Atlantic 15, South Alabama 7
In the final set, USA trimmed pulled to within one (7-6) after a kill from Savannah Stewart, but the Owls closed strong, outscoring the Jaguars, picking up eight of the final nine points to take the match.

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, the Jaguars fall to 7-8 in the all-time series.  USA is 2-5 in the series in matches played in Boca Raton.  Olivia Mohler tied a season-high with her 14 kills against Florida Atlantic.  With her four block assists, Lindsay Schwartz moved into six on the Jaguars’ total block list.  Mohler also climbed the career chart as she moved into eighth.

-- USA --