Box Score - South Alabama 3, Georgia State 1 (.pdf)
ATLANTA – The University of South Alabama women's volleyball team closed out the regular season Sunday with a 3-1 (23-25, 25-15, 25-22, 25-18) victory over Georgia State at the GSU Sports Arena. With the four-set victory, the Jaguars clinch the fifth seed in next week's tournament.
USA (14-14, 9-9 SBC) will now prepare for its opening match in the 2013 Sun Belt Conference tournament which begins on Thursday at Trojan Arena in Troy, Ala. The Jaguars will face fourth-seeded Texas-Arlington in the first round.
"The adversity this group of young ladies has faced all year, has definitely made them stronger," South Alabama head coach Amy Hendrichovsky said. "They've built a lot of confidence over the course of the season and chemistry, which made us much closer. We're starting to get that reward. Going into next week's tournament as the fifth seed, I think shows this group of girls is very committed to moving this program forward."
The match time versus the Mavericks should be announced later today. The two clubs split the two meetings this season with the Mavericks winning 3-0 in Arlington and the Jags defeating UTA 3-1 in Mobile.
South Alabama will enter the league tournament after winning seven of its last nine matches to close out the regular season.
"I'm proud of the girls going 7-2 in round two of conference play," Hendrichovsky said. "I feel we're playing some good volleyball right now and most importantly, we're playing with more confidence and much more heart."
The Jaguars had three players finish in double digits offensively on Sunday versus the Panthers. Mechell Daniel led the way with 18 kills and 12 digs – her 14th double-double of the season. Of her 14 double-doubles, 13 have come in conference play. . Daniel now has 411 kills this season, moving her past former Jags Marie Lirette (410 – 1988) and Beverly Ferren (403 – 1995). The 411 kills are the most by a Jaguar player in a season since Tonia Hatfield's 445 during the 1995 season.
Jessica Lewis also had 15 kills and hit .303 in the match, while Mallory Moore added 10 kills.
After committing 10 attack errors in the opening set, USA was much more efficient in the final three sets, committing just 11 the rest of the way.
"We came out very timid today," Hendrichovsky said. "Initially, we were intimidated by (Georgia State's) size. Once we realized that we still needed to be aggressive and still needed to play our game, we were able to make adjustments and have more of an aggressive mentality."
South Alabama's play at the net was key in the victory as it recorded 29 blocks – one solo and 28 block assists. The 28 block assists by the Jags tied a season-best for the team, matching the tally in USA's win over Arkansas State back on (Oct. 4). Symone Stephenson led the way with nine block assists, while Amber Wyatt had a solo block and five block assists. The nine block assists were a new season-high for Stephenson. Daniel had five block assists and Moore and Kiki von Piekartz each had four as well.
The Jags also received a career-performance in the defensive back court as freshman libero Abby Baker had a match-high 26 digs.
With the loss, Georgia State's season comes to an end as the Panthers finish with a 9-23 overall record and a 4-14 record in their first season in the Sun Belt.
Dede Bohanon led GSU with 14 kills in the loss. Eliza Zachary also had 10 kills and four blocks – one solo and three assists. Panther libero Emily Averbeck led the team with 16 digs.
SET ONE: Georgia State 25, South Alabama 23
Georgia State took the early lead in the opening set, reeling off five of the first seven points. Averbeck recorded one of her two aces in the set to take the 5-2 lead. USA responded with four-straight points and took a 6-5 lead on an ace by Baker.
The two clubs exchanged the lead four times over the next several points. With South Alabama leading 11-10 following a kill by Lewis, the Panthers pushed across five unanswered points to retake the lead and extend their advantage out to 15-11. USA committed three of their 10 attack errors in the set during the GSU run.
The Jaguars hung around and trimmed the deficit to one (16-15) after a kill by Daniel, but Georgia State again answered with a run of five-straight points and took a 21-15 lead on another ace by Averbeck.
USA chipped away at the deficit and attempted to make a late comeback, getting as close as one at 24-23 after a GSU attack error, but Natalia Nieto sealed the 25-23 win on the next point for the Panthers with her second kill of the frame.
Daniel had four kills for the Jags, while Lewis had three of her own.
SET TWO: South Alabama 25, Georgia State 15
After hitting .022 in the opening set, South Alabama's offense was much better in the second set as the Jags posted their best hitting percentage of the match at .364 (12-4-22). With the set tied at 7-7, Lewis ignited a 7-1 run for USA with a kill and an ace. The Jag defense also sparked the run as the posted six block assists.
The Panthers trimmed USA's lead to 14-12 after a run of four points – two kills by Ezell and a kill and a solo block by Kristina Stinson – but that would be as close as the host would get for the remainder of the set.
USA broke the set open on the next point as a GSU serving error ignited an 8-0 Jaguar run. Daniel posted three of her six kills in the set during the pivotal run and Kelly Little dropped in a pair of service aces.
The Jaguars went on to even the match at one set apiece with the 25-15 set victory. Lewis also had four kills in the frame.
SET THREE: South Alabama 25, Georgia State 22
South Alabama led by two through much of the first part of the third set, but GSU hung around and took a 10-9 lead after a kill by Zachary. USA answered back with the next two points though to retake the lead. USA later held a 14-12 lead after a kill from Wyatt and a block assists by the junior middle blocker and Lewis, but once again the Panthers came back and tied the set up.
Trailing by two later in the set, Georgia State pushed across three-straight points and retook the lead (18-17) after a Jaguar attack error.
The two clubs traded points over the next seven points, but Lewis finally broke the streak with back-to-back kills to put USA up 22-21. Lewis had four in the set.
Bohannon – who had seven kills in the third set – tied the frame back up at 22-22, but GSU committed a serving error on the next point. Lewis then dropped in an ace and Daniel clinched the 25-22 set win with her fifth kill of the frame.
SET FOUR: South Alabama 25, Georgia State 18
In the fourth and final set, Georgia State jumped out to a quick 6-2 lead after a kill by Stinson, but the Panthers didn't hold the momentum long.
Trailing by four, the Jaguars answered back and retook the lead for good as they rattled off a 13-3 run over the next 16 points. Daniel began the scoring with a kill and a block. Lewis also added four kills during the run as USA took a 15-9 lead. South Alabama eventually went on to lead by as much as nine on a couple of occasions before taking the set, 25-18, on a kill by Moore, her 10th kill of the match.
NOTES: With the four-set win over Georgia State on Sunday, South Alabama moved to 4-1 in the all-time series versus the Panthers. Jaguar head coach Amy Hendrichovsky is now 3-0 versus GSU. With her 18-kill, 12-dig performance, Mechell Daniel now has 14 double-doubles this season, 13 of which have come versus Sun Belt competition. Daniel now has 411 kills this season, moving her past former Jags Marie Lirette (410 – 1988) and Beverly Ferren (403 – 1995). The 411 kills are the most by a Jaguar player in a season since Tonia Hatfield's 445 during the 1995 season. The 14 wins are also the most in a season since the 1995 season where USA went 14-12. The 28 block assists versus Georgia State tied a season-high, matching the tally in USA's win over Arkansas State back on (Oct. 4). Symone Stephenson led the way with nine block assists were a new season-high for the freshman. After committing 10 attack errors in the opening set, USA was much more efficient in the final three sets, committing just 11 the rest of the way. Freshman libero Abby Baker set a new career best with a match-high 26 digs. Baker now has 395 blocks this season, which is 10th-most in a season in program history. Junior middle blocker is tied for 10th with 92 block assists. With the four-set win over Georgia State, South Alabama clinched the fifth seed in next week's Sun Belt Conference Championship. The two clubs split the two meetings this season, each winning on their home floors.
—USA—
