MOBILE, Ala. – The University of South Alabama women's volleyball team will head north to the middle part of the state as the Jaguars are scheduled to take on Sun Belt and in-state foe Troy on Wednesday evening. First serve versus the Trojans is set for 7 p.m. at Trojan Arena.
Troy won the earlier meeting this season, 3-0 in Mobile, but all three sets ended 26-24. South Alabama head coach Amy Hendrichovsky expects this week's contest to be just as close.
"Since I've been here, the three matches that we've had with Troy have been close and real barn-burners and I don't expect anything different on Wednesday night," Hendrichovsky said. "Our team has grown a lot since we played them during the first week of the conference season. Right now, it's coming down to the end of the season and everyone's kind of pushing for the same thing,. It's just a matter of who wants it more."
Live stats and video for the match versus the Trojans will be available at www.USAJaguars.com.
South Alabama (10-13, 5-8 SBC) is looking to move closer to securing a spot in this year's conference tournament, which will be held on the Trojans home court. The Jaguars are coming off a weekend split, picking up a 3-0 win over Arkansas Sate in Mobile, but falling 3-1 at Arkansas-Little Rock on Sunday.
Despite the loss to the Trojans, the Jaguars have won three of their last four and five of their last eight matches. USA currently sits a game ahead of Georgia State and Troy for the seventh seed in this month's league tournament. South Alabama is also just a half-game behind ASU for the sixth spot and two-games behind Louisiana-Lafayette for fifth.
Offensively the freshman duo of Mechell Daniel and Jessica Lewis continue to pace the club. Daniel – who picked up her third SBC Freshman of the Week honor on Monday – ranks third in the conference in both kills (3.69) and points (4.25) and is also tied with ULL's Sarah Mossakowski for fourth in aces (0.28). Daniel is also second on the team in digs with 2.52 dps and has 10 double-doubles this season, nine of which have come against league competition.
Lewis – also a three-time SBC Freshman of the Week honoree this season – is close behind Daniel as she is fifth in both kills (3.34) and points (4.25).
Fellow freshman Symone Stephenson is coming off a strong outing this past weekend as she had 19 kills (2.71 kps), hit .333 and led USA with 13 total blocks – one solo and 12 assists – for a 1.86 bps average in her two matches. The Plano, Texas, native is tied with Arkansas-Little Rock's Sonja Milanovic for ninth in the league in hitting percentage, as she is hitting .279.
Junior middle blocker Amber Wyatt has also played well at the net for the Jaguars this season. She has 81 total blocks – eight solo and 73 assists – and ranks third in the conference with 1.17 bps.
Troy enters the midweek match versus South Alabama with a 9-18 overall record and a 4-9 mark in the Sun Belt. The Trojans have dropped their last six matches, including a pair of SBC road decisions over the weekend – at Louisiana-Lafayette (0-3) and at Louisiana-Monroe (2-3).
TU is 5-3 this season at Trojan Arena and 3-3 against Sun Belt competition in its home arena.
The Trojans have two of the top offensive weapons in the Sun Belt as Marija Zelenovic is fourth in the league in kills with 3.40 per set and Blair Winston is seventh with 3.18 per set. The duo ranks seventh and 10th, respectively, in the conference in points. Winston has been even better in Sun Belt play as 183 of her 248 kills have come in 13 Sun Belt matches. She is also averaging 3.66 kills per set in those contests
Freshman middle blocker Kiah Cheatham leads the club with 80 total blocks – three solo and 77 assists. She is averaging 0.82 blocks per set on the season.
As a team, the Trojans enter play this week ranked second in the conference in digs with 15.79 per set. Courtney Cohen leads the club individually with 3.96 per 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: The meeting between Troy and South Alabama Wednesday night will mark the 62nd in the all-time series between the two clubs. USA holds a 37-24 advantage in the all-time series and has won three of the last five meetings. Troy picked up a 3-0 win earlier this season in Mobile. The Jags are 14-11 versus the Trojans in matches played in Troy.
—USA—
