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

LAFAYETTE, La. – After picking up her second league freshman of the week honors earlier in the week, freshman outside hitter Mechell Daniel continued her outstanding play and recorded her third-straight double-double, helping the University of South Alabama women's volleyball team rally and pick up its first Sun Belt Conference victory, 3-1 (16-25, 25-20, 25-20, 25-17) over Louisiana-Lafayette Friday night at the Earl K. Long Gym. 

"I'm very proud of our team and I'm very happy for them," South Alabama head coach Amy Hendrichovsky said.  "They deserved the win tonight.  I think it's a big boost for our morale and confidence as we head forward.  We started with one lineup in the first set and we went back to our normal lineup. I told them that Division I volleyball is about serve-and-pass, so we had to take care of our pass and put more pressure on Louisiana-Lafayette.  We didn't do that in the first set, but we did after that and were able to beat them in sets two, three and four."

Daniel finished the match with a team-high 15 kills and added 11 digs, an ace and four blocks – one solo and three assists.  Fellow freshman Jessica Lewis registered 12 kills of her own in the win and Mallory Moore also chipped in with eight kills of her own.  

USA (6-10, 1-5 SBC) will now return home to host first-year Sun Belt member Georgia State on Saturday night.  First serve versus the Panthers is set for 7 p.m. at Jag Gym.  Live stats and video will be available at www.USAJaguars.com.  
In one of the key stat categories on the night, South Alabama held an advantage at the defensive net, recording four solo blocks and 16 block assists, compared to one solo block and 12 block assists by Louisiana-Lafayette.  Amber Wyatt continued her solid play of late at the net as she had a match-high eight total blocks – two solo and six assists.  Over the last three matches, Wyatt has recorded 26 total blocks – three solo and 23 assists.

Along with Daniel, USA also had three other players end the match in double figures in the dig category.  Kelley Little had 12 and Emily Hundt and Abby Baker had 10 each.

The Ragin' Cajuns are now 12-8, 2-4 in the league after the loss.  Tonice White and Lavinia Tataran paced the club offensively with 12 kills each.  Kaylee Nemeth also chipped in with kills 10 of her own.  

ULL setter Andrea Hole had a solid all-around match as she finished with 40 assists, 13 digs, two service aces and a block assists.  Caitlyn Auxilien led all players with a match-high 15 digs.

Louisiana-Lafayette entered the match leading the conference in serving, but the Ragin' Cajuns struggled from behind the line, registering just three service aces and committing nine serving errors.

"We were able to handle the first contact," Hendrichovsky said.  "(Louisiana-Lafayette) did make some errors that helped our team, but we are a good passing team.  We had focused on working on that this past week and it paid off tonight."

SET ONE: LOUISIANA-LAFAYETTE 25, SOUTH ALABAMA 16
South Alabama led by two early on in the opening set, but Louisiana-Lafayette used a 9-2 run midway through the set to take the lead for good.  The ULL run was capped off by a Jaguar setting error, giving the Ragin' Cajuns an 11-6 advantage.

USA was only able to get as close as five the rest of the way as Louisiana-Lafayette went on to take the set, 25-16 and take the early lead in the match.  

Chanelle Gardner and Kaylee Nemeth each had four kills apiece for ULL, while Gardner also registered a pair of block assists.

SET TWO: SOUTH ALABAMA 25, LOUISIANA-LAFAYETTE 20
Down a set in the match, South Alabama got off to a quick start in the second frame, jumping out to an 8-3 advantage, three of USA's points coming off kills from Daniel.  Lewis later gave the Jags their largest lead of the set (13-5) after the freshman carded her third kill of the frame.  

Trailing by eight, ULL began to attempt to rally back as the Ragiin' Cajuns picked up five of the next seven points to trim the deficit to 15-11.  With USA holding a six-point lead (20-14), Louisiana-Lafayette reeled off another run, this one a 5-1 spurt to pull within two at 21-19 after a Jaguar ball-handling error.

South Alabama didn't allow the Cajuns to get any closer as it later pushed across the final three points of the set to pick up the 25-20 victory.  Daniel teamed up with Amber Wyatt to turn back a ULL attack to put the Jags one-point away from the win and she then sealed the win with her sixth kill of the frame.  Lewis also had five kills in the set for USA.

SET THREE: SOUTH ALABAMA 25, LOUISIANA-LAFAYETTE 20
With the third set tied 6-6, ULL pushed across five of the next six points to take an 11-7 lead.  Lavinia Tataran began the run for the Cajuns with back-to-back kills.  

Louisiana-Lafayette still held a three-point advantage later in the set at 13-10, but USA began to fight its way back and over the next nine points, the Jags outscored ULL 7-2 to retake the lead.  Lewis had a pair of kills during the run and Stephenson added a kill, a solo block and a block assists.  Daniel capped off the scoring and gave South Alabama the two-point advantage with a kill of her own.  

After trading the lead twice over the next few points, South Alabama closed strong.  With the set tied 19-19, the Jaguars rattled off six of the final seven points of the set pick up the 25-20 victory.  Daniel had a pair of kills and Kiki von Piekartz had back-to-back aces before Moore sealed the win with a kill.
 
SET FOUR: SOUTH ALABAMA 25, LOUISIANA-LAFAYETTE 17
In the fourth and final set, the Jaguars again got off to another quick start, jumping out to a 7-3 lead after a kill from Lewis.  ULL battled back and trimmed the South Alabama advantage to two three times, the last coming at 12-10 after a kill from Hole, but USA gained some breathing room as it answered back with four unanswered points to extend its lead out to 16-10.  

From there, Louisiana-Lafayette was never able to threaten again.  Like in the third set, South Alabama closed strong again, finishing the match by picking up five of the last seven points.  The Jag defense clinched the set and the match as Daniel and Wyatt combined to block a ULL attack and give South Alabama the 25-17 fourth-set victory.

For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com, and follow the Jaguars at www.twitter.com/USAJaguarSports. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).

NOTES:  South Alabama has now won four of the last five meetings in the series with Louisiana-Lafayette.  ULL still holds a 31-13 advantage in the all-time series.  The Jags are also now 3-15 in the series on the Ragin' Cajuns home court.  With her 15 kills and 11 digs, USA's Mechell Daniel has now recorded four double-doubles this season, including three-straight matches.  Amber Wyatt continued her solid play of late at the net as she had a match-high eight total blocks versus ULL – two solo and six assists.  Over the last three matches, Wyatt has recorded 26 total blocks – three solo and 23 assists.

—USA—