Box Score - South Alabama 3, Southern Utah 0 (.pdf)
Box Score - Georgia Southern 3, South Alabama 1 (.pdf)
MOBILE, Ala. – The University of South Alabama volleyball team defeated Southern Utah 3-0 in its first match on Saturday but fell 3-1 to Georgia Southern in the final match of the Jaguar Invitational held at Jag Gym to earn a split.
Georgia Southern was a 3-0 winner over Southern Utah in the first match of the day, while Tennessee State defeated SUU 3-1 in the third match.
USA (2-1) will now travel next weekend to compete at the Lipscomb Invitational in Nashville, Tenn. The Jags will open up tournament play on Friday at 10 a.m. versus Samford.
GSU's Jamie DeRatt earned Most Valuable Player honors for the tournament, while fellow Eagles teammates Katalin Minnerly and Kym Coley were also selected to the all-tournament team. USA's Jessica Lewis and Symone Stephenson, along with Tennessee State's Naomi Wells and Southern Utah's Sariah Pelaez were also selected to the team.
MATCH ONE – SOUTH ALABAMA 3, SOUTHERN UTAH 0
In the Jaguars first match of the day, USA picked up its first sweep of the season, defeating Southern Utah 3-0 (26-24, 25-19, 25-16). The Jags placed a pair of players in double figures led by Jessica Lewis' 11 kills. Mechell Daniel also had 10 kills and six digs.
"We really saw Mechell come alive today and we were able to get Mallory (Moore) on the floor and see what she could do,"
South Alabama head coach Amy Hendrichovsky said. "That's the beauty with our team. With anyone we are putting out on the floor, we are still connecting and clicking. That's the special part about this group right now, because we truly have 11 people who can go out there and contribute for us."
Moore had six kills on 15 attempts in her first real action in a Jag uniform.
Stephenson – who just missed double figures with nine kills – was outstanding on the floor for USA, posting a team-best .562 hitting percentage with nine kills on 16 attempts and no errors. Daniel was just as efficient for the Jags with a .474 hitting percentage (10 kills, 1 error and 19 attempts). Abby Baker led South Alabama on defense with 12 digs.
Southern Utah (0-2) was paced by Annie Stradling and Kylie Schofield's eight kills each. Hailey Moore chipped in with seven kills of her own and Pelaez had a match-high 15 digs.
SET ONE: SOUTH ALABAMA 26, SOUTHERN UTAH 24
Like the first set versus Tennessee State the night before, South Alabama got off to another quick start in its first match of the day, rattling off five of the first seven points. Sophomore setter Emily Hundt caught the Thunderbird defense off guard and dumped in a kill of her own to give USA the five-point lead. Southern Utah kept battling though and answered back with a 5-2 run of its own and tied the contest back up at 7-7 after a kill from Schofield.
Later in the set, the Jags took a 12-9 lead after a ball-handling error, but SUU came right back and tied the set back up three points later. The Thunderbirds took their first lead of the set three points later when Stradling and Joanna Christenson teamed up to turn back a Jaguar attack.
Southern Utah later took its largest lead of the set at 23-18 on a USA attack error.
After committing two-straight hitting errors, Lewis sparked the South Alabama rally with back-to-back put aways. USA then took advantage of three consecutive errors – one ball-handling and two attack – to tie the set up at 23-23.
"Our team stays composed and they never give up," Hendrichovsky said. "We talk about always fighting and we did today. Things then seemed to fall our way and once we put pressure on (Southern Utah), it was a different ball game. Throughout the whole match, it was about pressure and who could put the most on the other team with the serve. When we were able to do that and we cleaned up our side, which was the difference in the second and third set. We weren't as clean in the first set, but we cleaned it up in the last two sets."
Coming out of a time out, the Thundebirds sat at set point after a Jag serving error, but on the next point, Nikki Gittens shot landed just behind the SUU defense just inside the line to tie the frame back up. Southern Utah then committed two more attack errors to give USA the 26-24 first-set victory.
Lewis had four kills in the frame to lead the Jaguars offensively, while Stradling had four of her own for Southern Utah.
SET TWO: SOUTH ALABAMA 25, SOUTHERN UTAH 19
Southern Utah jumped out to an early 4-1 lead after two-consecutive aces from Christenson, the second just trickling over the net, but USA responded right back and took four of the next five points to tie the second set 5-5. Lewis and Mallory Moore each had two kills apiece during the scoring spurt for the Jags.
With South Alabama trailing by one three points later, the Jaguars broke the frame open and retook the lead for good with an 8-1 run. USA bookended the run with a string of four-straight points and pushed its lead out to 14-8 when Moore found the back of the court for one of her four kills in the set. The Guntersville, Ala., then clinched the 25-19 victory with another kill.
As a team, the Jaguars registered 13 kills on 30 attempts with four errors for a .300 hitting percentage.
SET THREE: SOUTH ALABAMA 25, SOUTHERN UTAH 16
In the third set, South Alabama set the tone early pushing across five of the first six points and jumping out to a 10-3 lead after an ace by Lewis. Lewis and Daniel also had two kills each during the early part of the set.
Twice, Southern Utah was able to get as close as three, the last coming at 11-8 after a Schofield kill, but over the next 10 points, South Alabama put the set and the match away. Daniel ignited an 8-2 Jaguar run with back-to-back kills and Stephenson added two more during the run. Abby Baker later capped off the scoring with an ace to put USA up 19-10.
SUU would only be able to get as close as five for the remainder of the set, but the Jags closed strong taking the final four points on two more kills from Daniel and a kill and block assists from Stephenson. Daniel ended the match when the freshman from Chelmsford, England slammed home her 10th kill of the day down the left sideline, giving USA the 25-16 win.
Daniel recorded six of her kills in the final frame, while Lewis and Stephenson had four each. For the second-straight set, South Alabama hit over .300, posting a .382 percentage (16 kills, 3 errors and 34 attempts).
MATCH TWO – GEORGIA SOUTHERN 3, SOUTH ALABAMA 1
In the tournament finale, both clubs entered the match with a perfect record, but South Alabama came up short and fell 3-1 (25-13, 18-25, 25-16, 25-23) in the championship match.
"Overall it was a good weekend and tonight we didn't come out ready in the first set for whatever reason, but I applaud our girls for coming back and fighting in both sets two and four," Hendrichovsky said. "That's something we can work with as we move forward through the season. As long as we have that mentality, we'll be fine. Physically, we have some things we need to work on and Georgia Southern was able to expose some of that, but we'll be better next weekend."
Lewis once again paced the Jaguars with 18 kills in the losing effort. Stephenson was second on the club with eight kills, while Gittens had seven. Deanna Canfield led the club defensively with 13 digs, while Hundt registered a double-double with 18 assists and 12 digs.
GSU placed two players in double figures – DeRatt (14) and Nicole Jeschelnik (13). DeRatt also had 15 digs and Alexandra Beecher finished with a match-high 16.
SET ONE: GEORGIA SOUTHERN 25, SOUTH ALABAMA 13
The two clubs remained close over the first part of the opening set of the night cap, but tied 3-3, Georgia Southern took the lead for good with three-straight point. Later in the set holding a 9-6 advantage, the Eagles broke the frame open with a 10-3 run. DeRatt had a pair of kills during the GSU run.
From there the Eagles would continue to hold control and go on to take the first set 25-13.
DeRatt led Georgia Southern with six kills and a .455 hitting percentage, while as a club the Eagles out hit USA .294 to .029. GSU's front line also caused some issues in the Jaguar attack as it had six block assists – two each from DeRatt and Minnerly.
SET TWO: SOUTH ALABAMA 25, GEORGIA SOUTHERN 18
Trailing 1-0 in the match, South Alabama began the second frame by rattling off five of the first six points to take an early four-point advantage. GSU battled back and trimmed the deficit to one (9-8) after a bad Jaguar set, but USA responded right back, reeling off six-straight points to extend its lead out to 15-8. The Eagles committed four attack errors during the run, one courtesy of a block assists from Kiki von Piekartz and Gittens. Lewis capped off the Jaguar run and gave USA the seven-point lead with an ace.
Georgia Southern was only able to get as close as five the remainder of the set and South Alabama went on to even the match with a 25-18 win in the second set.
After committing just three errors in the first set, GSU tripled that total in the second, registering nine. USA had 10 kills in the frame and committed just three attack errors. One other key stat in the set was at the net where South Alabama had six block assists and did not surrender one to the Eagles.
SET THREE: GEORGIA SOUTHERN 25, SOUTH ALABAMA 16
Holding a one-point advantage (8-7) in the third set, Georgia Southern gained some breathing room as the Eagles pushed across seven of the next nine points. DeRatt and Coley capped off the run for GSU with a kill apiece to give the visitors a 15-9 advantage.
The Eagles didn't allow USA to get any closer for the remainder of the set and went on to take the set 25-16. GSU hit the ball very well in the frame, recording 15 kills on 25 attacks with just two errors for a .520 hitting percentage.
SET FOUR: GEORGIA SOUTHERN 25, SOUTH ALABAMA 23
In the fourth set, USA fell behind by three points early, but battled back and eventually took an 11-9 lead after a GSU attack error. After trading the next two points, USA extended its lead out to six (17-11) after a quick 6-1 scoring spurt. Lewis capped off the run with one of her 18 kills on the night.
The Eagles answered right back though 10-3 run of their own over the next 13 points to retake the lead, 21-20 on a kill by DeRatt. GSU later sat at match point after a Jaguar attack error, but USA continued to battle and fought off two straight match points, another attack error sealed the 25-23 victory for Georgia Southern.
Lewis posted five of her kills in the final frame.
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: For their play over the weekend, Jaguar freshmen Jessica Lewis and Symone Stephenson were named to the all-tournament team…With the win, South Alabama improves to 1-0 all-time versus both Southern Utah and the Big Sky Conference…The 10 kills by Symone Stephenson versus Southern Utah was a season-best…Jessica Lewis has now recorded double-figure kill tallies in each of the first two matches this season…South Alabama falls to 0-3 in the all-time series and is now 17-18 against Southern Conference members…USA will also face So Con member Samford (Sept. 6) next weekend at the Lipscomb Invite.
—USA—
