Box Score - (4) Texas-Arlington 3, (5) South Alabama - Quarterfinal Round of the 2013 Sun Belt Conference Championship (.pdf)

TROY, Ala. – The fifth-seeded University of South Alabama women's volleyball team saw its season come to a close Thursday evening as fourth-seeded Texas-Arlington picked up a 3-0 (18-25, 23-25, 21-25) win in the quarterfinal round of the 2013 Sun Belt Conference Championships held at Trojan Arena.  

"I applaud Texas-Arlington for their efforts today.  I thought they were very focused and had a really well played match on their part," South Alabama head coach Amy Hendrichovsky said.  "I'm very proud of our team and what we were able to accomplish this season.  I believe we had many people that improved and grew as Division-I volleyball players.  I and my staff look forward to working with them this spring and building tradition and a successful program here."

USA finishes the season with a 14-15 overall record, the most wins in a season since the 1995 campaign.  

With the win, Texas-Arlington improves to 18-14 and will take on the winner of top-seeded Western Kentucky and eighth-seeded Troy in Friday's semifinal round set for 6:30 p.m.

South Alabama's freshman all-conference duo of Jessica Lewis and Mechell Daniel led the way offensively in the loss.  Lewis nearly recorded her third double-double of the season as she ended the match with 13 kills and nine digs.  Daniel added 12 kills, seven digs and three block assists for the Jaguars.  

Daniel ends the season with 423 kills, the most by a Jaguar freshman and the sixth most in a single season, passing former South Alabama player Joan Hass, who had 420 during the 1987 season.  

Fellow freshman Abby Baker also had 14 digs for USA.

UTA was led by Shelby Dickson's 10 kills and 12 digs.  Ashley Bennett finished just outside double figures with nine kills, while Taylor Gross and Charmaine Whitmore each had eight and seven, respectively.

The key stat of the night was at the net, where the Mavericks ended the match with 18 block assists.  UTA entered the tournament leading the conference and ranked 11th nationally in blocks.  Whitmore – the NCAA leader in that same category – had eight, while Gross added seven.  

"We knew going into the match that it was going to be a challenge with them leading the conference in blocks and with Whitmore leading the nation in that same category," Hendrichovsky said.  "That's their strength.  We have other strengths, but we just weren't able to play to those strengths tonight."

Caitlyn Cooney also had 14 digs in the match for Texas-Arlington.

SET ONE: TEXAS-ARLINGTON 25, SOUTH ALABAMA 18
With the score tied at 5-5 in the opening set, UTA was the first to string together points as the Maverick reeled off a 6-1 run.  Stacey Koch, who had two kills during the run, put Texas-Arlington up 11-6 with a kill.

South Alabama answered back by pushing across five of the next six points and trimmed the deficit to one at 12-11 on a kill from Mallory Moore.

However, attack errors proved costly in the first set for the Jags though.  Following a kill from Whitmore, USA committed three-straight errors.  The miscues by South Alabama were part of a 7-1 scoring spurt for the Mavericks, which began with five-consecutive points.  UTA took its largest lead of the frame at seven (19-12) after another USA attack error.  

South Alabama pulled as close as five on two occasions down the stretch, but UTA went on to take the early lead in the match with the 25-18 set victory.  

USA committed 10 attack errors in the frame and had a .056 hitting percentage.

SET TWO: TEXAS-ARLINGTON 25, SOUTH ALABAMA 23
Like the opening set, set two remained close through the early portion.  Tied at 9-9, the Mavericks grabbed the momentum as they pushed across five of the next six points.  Dickson began the run with a kill, one of her two during the scoring spurt, and Whitmore added two more block assists.  

Daniel sparked the Jags as the league's freshman of the year posted two of her seven kills in the frame and teamed up with Symone Stephenson on a block to tie the set back up at 14-14.

UTA reclaimed the lead three points later after a Jag miscue and eventually stretched its lead out to 21-18 on Dickson's fifth kill of the set.  

Led by Daniel, the Jaguars fought back and pulled within one on three occasions in the final points, the last coming on Daniel's 10th kill of the match, pulling South Alabama within one (24-23), but Ashley Bennett sealed the win for Texas-Arlington on the ensuing point with a kill of her own.  

SET THREE: TEXAS-ARLINGTON 25, SOUTH ALABAMA 21
The two clubs matched up point for point for first half of the set, but with USA holding an 11-9 lead, Whitmore ignited a 6-1 run for the Mavericks with a kill.  Whitmore also added a block during the run, while Gross chipped in with two kills, the second giving Texas-Arlington a 15-12 advantage.

Bennett, who later had three of her five kills during a mini-run for UTA, eventually put the Mavericks up 20-16.

Led by Lewis though, USA refused to give in and charged back.  Lewis had three of five kills in the set during the Jaguar rally.  Moore trimmed the deficit to 22-21 with her seventh put away of the night, but coming out of a UTA time out, Whitmore clinched the match as she posted two more kills and then teamed up with Gross for a block, giving the Mavericks the 25-21 set win and the match sweep.

Whitmore had five kills and two blocks during the final set.  

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:  With the loss, South Alabama falls to 1-3 in the all-time series versus Texas-Arlington.  The match was the first postseason meeting in the series.  USA also drops to 10-31 all-time in Sun Belt tournament action and has dropped their last eight tournament matches.  The appearance was the first for the program since the 2010 season and the 17th overall.   Mechell Daniel ends the season with 423 kills, the most by a Jaguar freshman and the sixth most in a single season, passing former South Alabama player Joan Hass, who had 420 during the 1987 season.  Her 3.81 kills per set average is also ninth-best in a season at USA.  Fellow freshman Abby Baker's 3.79 digs per set average ranks fourth and the 409 digs are eighth on South Alabama's single-season charts.  The 94 block assists by junior middle blocker Amber Wyatt are eighth most in a season, while her 106 total blocks are tied with Carla Mathis for 10th.  Her 1.15 blocks per set average is fifth-best in a season.  The 14 wins by the Jags this season are also the most since the 1995 season when South Alabama also posted 14 wins.  

—USA—