Box Score - Troy 3, South Alabama 0 (.pdf)
Photo Gallery
MOBILE, Ala. – Late errors in the first and second sets proved costly Wednesday night as the University of South Alabama women's volleyball team fell 3-0 (24-26, 24-26, 24-26) to Troy at Jag Gym.
"I think we have a great team and it's a matter of our girls believing we are a great team," South Alabama head coach Amy Hendrichovsky said. "Tonight, Troy came ready to play and we came ready to play. They were just able to make plays at the end. We're going to work on things and I'm going to prepare my team to better the next time we are in this situation."
USA (5-8, 0-3 SBC) will now begin a three-match Sun Belt road swing as it travels to Arkansas State on Friday and to Louisiana-Monroe on Sunday. First serve versus the Red Wolves is set for 7 p.m. at the Convocation Center.
Mechell Daniel was the lone Jag in double figures offensively in the loss as she had 15 kills. Mallory Moore added eight kills of her own and Amber Wyatt and Symone Stephenson each had seven kills apiece. Jaguar setter Emily Hundt registered a double-double with 36 assists and a team-high 11 digs.
Stephenson paced South Alabama at the net on defense with a career-high seven block assists. As a team, USA finished the match with a solo block and 22 block assists and held a 12.0-5.0 advantage in blocks in the match.
Troy moved to 6-11 overall and 1-2 in the league with the victory. Marija Zelenovic paced the club with 11 kills. Blair Winston chipped in with nine and Kiah Cheatham had eight of her own and hit a team-best .471 on her 17 attempts. Cheatham didn't register an error in any of her attempts.
Trojan setter Alexandra Alexander recorded five kills, 34 assists and 10 digs in the victory.
SET ONE: TROY 26, SOUTH ALABAMA 24
Tied at 8-8 in the opening set, South Alabama was the first club to attempt to gain some breathing room. Up until that point, neither team had led by more than one point, but Daniel bookended a 3-1 scoring spurt to put the Jags up 12-9. Daniel led USA with four kills in the frame.
Troy answered right back by picking up five of the next seven points to tie the contest back up at 14-14 on a solo block by Blair Winston – her second of the Trojan run.
Troy later retook its first lead (19-17) since early in the set on a kill by Cassie Hendricks and an ace from Winston.
South Alabama kept chipping away at the deficit and finally knotted the set back up at 23-23 on a block assist from Symone Stephenson and Mallory Moore. On the next point, Stephenson teamed up with Deanna Canfield to turn back another Trojan attack, putting USA one point away from taking the opening set. The Jaguar frontline defense was solid in the first stanza, posting one solo block and 10 block assists.
However, the Jags committed an attack error on set-point and Alexandra Alexander registered back-to-back kills to give Troy the 26-24 first-set victory. Both of Alexander's kills came when USA was unable to control the Trojan's serve and passed the ball over the net for easy put aways by Alexander.
SET TWO: TROY 26, SOUTH ALABAMA 24
South Alabama got off to a quick start in the second set, taking six of the first eight points and held the lead for most of the first half of the frame. Troy fought back and eventually pulled to within one (12-11) after block assists from Kiah Cheatham and Marija Zelenovic.
USA responded with an 8-2 run over the next 10 points. The Jaguar scoring run started with three-straight points – two kills from Daniel and a service ace from Emily Hundt – to extend its advantage back out to 15-11. The Jags later grabbed its largest lead of the set at 20-13 after a kill from Canfeld, two more block assists from Stephenson and an ace from Abby Baker.
Once again, Troy continued to battle and answered the Jaguar scoring by pushing across nine of the next 11 points to tie the set back up at 22-22 on a kill from Hendricks.
USA picked up the next two points after a Trojan ball-handling error and an attack error to sit one point away from evening the match at a set apiece (24-22), but over the next four points, South Alabama committed a serving error and three consecutive attack errors to give Troy the 26-24 set win.
SET THREE: TROY 26, SOUTH ALABAMA 24
In the third set, South Alabama broke an early 5-5 tie with a run of three-straight points and took an 8-5 lead on a Kelley Little ace. With USA later holding that same three-point advantage (12-9), the Trojans made a charge and knotted the frame back up three-points later on a kill from Cheatham. Later in the set, Troy took its largest lead at 21-16 after back-to-back service aces from Alexander.
The Jaguars continued to fight and reeled off eight of the next 11 points to tie the third set back up at 24-24. The USA block sparked the rally as Wyatt and Moore twice teamed up to turn back a Trojan attack. Daniel also added a pair of kills during the run for South Alabama.
However, Troy would go on to pick up the final two points of the match on a kill by Zelenovic and a Jag attack error to take the set, 26-24.
USA did manage to post its best offensive performance in the final set, registering a .323 hitting percentage (14-4-31).
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: Despite the loss to Troy, South Alabama still leads the all-time series 37-24. Troy has now won three of the last four meetings in the series. The Jags are 21-10 versus the Trojans in Mobile. The 12.0 blocks by South Alabama versus Troy are a team-best in a match this season. USA's Mechell Daniel has recorded 14 or more kills in seven-straight matches. With her double-double performance (36 assists, 11 digs), Jaguar setter Emily Hundt now has six double-doubles this season and eight for her career. The seven block assists by Symone Stephenson versus the Trojans was a season-best for the freshman middle blocker.
—USA—
