Box Score - South Alabama 3, Savannah State 0 (.pdf)
Box Score - Wisconsin 3, South Alabama 1 (.pdf)
STATESBORO, Ga. – The University of South Alabama volleyball team captured a 3-0 sweep over Savannah State but dropped a 3-1 decision to Wisconsin Saturday to earn a split for the day at the Springhill Suites Invitational held at Hanner Fieldhouse.
“We talked about a few things going into both matches today,” South Alabama head coach Amy Hendrichovsky said. “No matter who was on the other side of the net, we wanted to execute on our side and focus on taking care of the ball. I feel that we did that consistently at times this weekend, but we aren’t playing consistently enough.”
The Jaguars 7-7 will now step into to Sun Belt Conference action when they head to Murfreesboro, Tenn., to take on Middle Tennessee on Thursday. First serve is set for 7 p.m. at Alumni Gym.
For her play this weekend, redshirt sophomore Torlandria Jones was selected to the all-tournament team. In her four matches, Jones posted 25 kills and a team-high 10 blocks, while hitting a .346.
MATCH ONE: South Alabama 3, Savannah State 0
In the opening match of the day, the Jaguars picked up their second-straight sweep, picking up a 3-0 (25-10, 25-21, 25-20) victory over Savannah State.
Against the Tigers, South Alabama had three players record their first career starts – Nikkin Gittens, Eliana Strautniece and Deanna Canfield. Canfield led a balanced attack for Jag offense with a career-high 11kills, while Strautniece and Gittens also set new career-best with eight and seven kills, respectively. Savannah Stewart also added nine kills of her own.
Stewart and Stautniece each hit a .438, while Gittens posted a .429. As a team, USA hit .361, recording 44 kills on 94 attempts, while committing 11 errors.
Defensively, Hassell paced the Jaguars with 14 digs – making her just the sixth Jag to eclipse the 1,000 dig mark for her career. Stewart also notched double figures with 12 digs.
Savannah State (0-15) was led by Jasmine Waite’s six kills and .308 hitting percentage. Chikia Jones and Bryana Gadis also added four kills. Jones also hit .308 in the match. The Tigers where strong at the net, as they recorded one block solo and 12 block assists. Waite led SSU in that category as well with one solo block and three block assists.
SET ONE: South Alabama 25, Savannah State 10
South Alabama came out strong from to opening serve as the Jaguars rattled off 10 of the first 11 points of the match, including the first six. During that stretch, Strautniece posted a pair of kills and a block assist. The senior would go on to record six kills in the frame. From there, USA would continue to dominate the set, eventually taking the set 25-10.
The Jaguars held a huge advantage in the attack percentage stat column, posting their best percentage of the match with a .393 (13-2-28). SSU struggled in the first set with a -.038 (4-5-26).
SET TWO: South Alabama 25, Savannah State 21
In the second set, Savannah State grabbed three of the first four points to take a 3-1 lead. However, the lead was short-lived as the Jaguars answered back with a 12-2 run over the next 14 points to take an eight-point advantage.
Canfield began the run for USA with back-to-back kills, and later capped off the run and put the Jags up 12-4 with another put away. Olivia Mohler also added a pair of kills and a block assists during the scoring spurt for South Alabama.
The Tigers would continue to battle, but USA was able to hold on and capture the 25-21 second-set victory after a kill from Stewart.
SET THREE: South Alabama 25, Savannah State 20
South Alabama got off to another quick start in the third and final set, beginning the frame with a 7-3 run. Four different Jags registered a kill for USA during the opening run, while SSU also added three errors.
The Tigers hung around though and narrowed the deficit to 23-20 following a pair of aces from Gadis, but Stewart and Gittens ended the rally attempt for Savannah State as the duo slammed home a kill each to seal the five-point victory and clinch the match for the Jaguars.
Gittens, Canfield and Stewart each posted four kills in the set, to lead the Jags’ offensive attack. As a team, USA registered a .361 percentage.
MATCH TWO: Wisconsin 3, South Alabama 1
In the Jaguars’ second match of the day, South Alabama dropped a 3-1 (20-25, 25-22, 16-25, 19-25) decision to Wisconsin at the Springhill Suites Invitational.
Stewart led the Jaguars with her sixth double-double of the season with 14 kills and a career-high 17 digs. Melissa Waelter also added 10 kills, while Jones and Schwartz had nine. Jag setter Katariina Kananen posted her 19th career double-double with 34 assists and 10 digs.
Mary Ording and Crystal Graff led the way for Wisconsin (12-1) with 12 kills apiece, while Alexis Mitchell also finished in double figures with 11 kills of her own. Mitchell ended the match with a .611 attack percentage, while Ording recorded a .588.
As a team, the Badgers registered a .356 – 59 kills on 132 attempts and just 12 errors – and hit over .400 in each of the last two sets.
“Our first contact (against Wisconsin) wasn’t consistent and allowed them to run our offense in a defensive manner,” Hendrichovsky said. “We wanted to be the aggressor in the match. The first and the second sets we were able to do that, but over the remainder of the match we were able to consistently control the first contact.”
WU also had four solo blocks and 12 block assists.
SET ONE: Wisconsin 25, South Alabama 20
Led by the early play of Jones in the opening set against the Badgers, South Alabama pushed across four of the first five points of the match. Jones posted three of her first-set kills during the opening moments of the match.
The Badgers came back and tied the set back up at 5-5 on a kill from Crystal Graff and three points later took their first lead of the day (7-6) following a block assists from Ellen Chapman and Alexis Mitchell.
Trailing by one three points later, Schwartz started a string of four unanswered points for the Jaguars with a kill to put USA back out in front.
With USA leading 16-14, the Badgers turned to their defense at the net to ignite a 5-0 run and retake the lead for good. Mitchell began the comeback with a solo block and Mary Ording and Courtney Thomas teamed up on the next point to turn back another Jaguar attack and tie the contest up. Wisconsin added three more points to close the run and led 19-16 after a kill from Ording.
Julie Mikaelson later recorded a kill of her own to seal the 25-20 victory for the Badgers. Wisconsin was not only strong in the opening set defensively, posting two solo blocks and six block assists in the first set, but was extremely efficient offensively with 12 kills on 32 attempts, with just one error for a .344.
Jones led South Alabama on offense with five first-set kills.
SET TWO: South Alabama 25, Wisconsin 22
South Alabama got off to another quick start in the second set, pushing across five of the first seven points to take a three-point lead.
With USA leading by three (9-6), Wisconsin rattled off six-straight points to grab a three-point lead of its own. Chapman had two kills during the run.
The Jags came right back and knotted the set back up at 13-13 after a Jone’s kill and an ace from Melissa Waelter.
The two clubs traded the next several points and tied 167-16, South Alabama pushed across three consecutive points and took a 19-16 lead on an ace from Stewart. The freshman later clinched the 25-22 set win and evened the match at one set apiece with her eighth kill of the night.
Waelter and Stewart each had four kills in the set and helped the Jaguars post a .324 hitting percentage. Stewart also added nine digs in the frame.
SET THREE: Wisconsin 25, South Alabama 16
Wisconsin rode the offense of Graff early on in the third set as she had five kills during the Badgers first seven points. Graff finished the set with seven kills.
USA trailed by three early, but the Jags were able to tie the set back up at 7-7 following kills from Kananen and Waelter.
However, WU answered back with seven of the next nine points and took a 14-9 lead on a kill from Mikaelson. The Badgers would go on to close strong, picking up six of the final seven points to take the set 25-16 victory.
Wisconsin recorded a .424 hitting percentage in the set.
SET FOUR: Wisconsin 25, South Alabama 19
In the fourth set, South Alabama led by two early, but Wisconsin stormed back with seven of the next eight points to take an 8-4 advantage.
USA narrowed the deficit to one (8-7) after an Emily Hundt service ace, but the Badgers pushed across five of the next six points and took a 12-8 lead on a Courtney Thomas kill.
Wisconsin held control the rest of the way as the Badgers went on to close out the match with the 25-19 set win.
For the second-straight set, the WU posted a hitting percentage over .400, finishing with a 483 – its best of 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 straight-set sweep of the Jags over Savannah State, USA now leads the series 1-0 as it was the first meeting between the two clubs…South Alabama also improves to 14-0 all-time versus opponents from the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference...Nikkin Gittens, Eliana Strautniece and Deanna Canfield all made their first career starts for the Jags on Saturday against Savannah State..Canfield led a balanced attack for Jag offense with a career-high 11kills, while Strautniece and Gittens also set new career-best with eight and seven kills, respectively...With her 14 digs, junior libero Jenna Hassell became just the sixth USA player to eclipse thee 1,000 dig mark for her career…With her nine digs against Wisconsin, Hassell moved into fifth place with 1,014 digs, passing Selena Chidester…Against Savannah State, Katariina Kananen moved into fifth place on South Alabama’s career assists list...She now has 1,857 for her career…With the loss to Wisconsin, USA is now 0-4 versus the Big 10…Savanna Stewart also registered her sixth career double-double versus the Badgers with 14 kills and a career-high 17 digs.
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