Lipscomb Invitational Tournament Notes (.pdf)
MOBILE, Ala. – The University of South Alabama women's volleyball team will head out on the road this weekend for the first of three non-conference road tournaments, as the Jaguars head to Nashville, Tenn., to compete at the Lipscomb Invitational held at Allen Arena on the Lipscomb University campus.
USA will open up play on Friday with a pair of matches versus in-state foes. South Alabama will take on Samford at 10 a.m. and then return later in the day to take on Jacksonville State at 5 p.m. The Jags close out tournament play on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. when they face the tournament host Lady Bisons.
"There are teams in this field that if we are able to compete with them, it will help us when we get to conference play," South Alabama head coach Amy Hendrichovsky said. "Lipscomb and Samford have both been in the NCAA tournament within the last few years and have competed for conference championships. Jacksonville State isn't really a rival of ours, but a state opponent for us. I think those three teams are going to give us some good competition."
The Jaguars enter play this weekend at the Lipscomb after getting off to a 2-1 start this past weekend at the Jaguar Invitational. USA won its first two matches - Tennessee State (3-1) and Southern Utah (3-0) - but fell in the championship match to Georgia Southern (3-1).
"I thought that this past weekend was a good weekend for us," Hendrichovsky said. "We started with a nice win versus Tennessee State. I thought both teams had first match jitters and made some first match errors, but we battled and were able to pull it out. I thought against Southern Utah that we found some resilance when we were able to get the win in the first set after being behind. We were able to finish them off. Against Georgia Southern, we weren't quite as crisp and didn't play quite as clean, but we fought and found some things we need to work on heading into this week."
Over the weekend, USA was led both offensively and defensively by its under classmen. On the offensive side of the net, Jessica Lewis had a stellar showing, registering double-figure kill tallies in all three matches and leading the Jags in kills (48), kills per set (4.26) - second in the Sun Belt - and points (52.5). For her play, Lewis was named the SBC's Freshman of the Week. The Huntsville, Ala., native also averaged 2.00 digs per set at the tournament.
Freshman middle blocker, Symone Stephenson also had solid offensive showing. She is averaging 2.09 kps and hitting .353 for the Jaguars and ranks eighth in the league in that category.
Fellow freshman Mechell Daniel is also averaging over two kills per set with 2.18. The Chelmsford, England native had her best showing of the tourney versus Southern Utah where she had 10 kills and hit .474.
In the defensive back court, sophomore Deanna Canfield and freshman Abby Baker pace the club, as both are averaging 2.82 digs per set.
South Alabama is second in the league in serving with 1.50 aces per set and third in hitting (.235).
Despite the good start and good showing in a few of the league's categories, Hendrichovsky still sees the need for improvement in some other areas as the Jaguars head into the second weekend of the season.
"We have definitely been focusing a lot on our defense and our blocking (during this week's practice)," Hendrichovsky said. "With young players, blocking is one of the skills that takes a little bit of time to come around. We've watched film and gone over it in practice. It's something that we are definitely focusing on."
Samford comes into play this week after opening the season up with a 3-1 showing at the UAB/Samford Volleyball Challenge. The Bulldogs won each of their first three matches of the season, defeating Presbyterian, Georgia State and Mercer each in straight set, before falling 3-0 to No. 6 Minnesota.
The Bulldogs used a balanced offensive attack in its four matches over the weekend as four players enter the Lipscomb Invitational averaging 2.82 kills per set or better. Junior outside hitter Michaela Reesor leads the club with 39 kills and a 3.25 kps. Erin Bognar - who was named the Southern Conference Freshman of the Week - is averaging 3.00 kps, while Katie Murphy (2.92) and Emily Meitz (2.82) are just behind her. As a team, SU is averaging 14.3 kills per set. Both Reesor and Murphy were named to the preseason all-conference squad.
SU leads the SoCon in three major offensive categories - kills (14.3), hitting (.292) and assists (12.8), while the 1.50 aces per set average ranks just behind UNC-Greensboro for top marks.
Junior libero Chelsi Carter paces the Bulldogs in the back court with 3.92 digs per frame.
The Bulldogs will take on UAB on Wednesday, before heading to Nashville for tournament play. Last season, Samford finished with a 23-9 record and won the SoCon North Division title and was picked to repeat as the conference champion in the preseason poll.
Jacksonville State also opened the 2013 season this past weekend at the UAB/Samford Volleyball Challenge, recording a 1-3 record. JSU fell 3-0 to Minnesota to open the season and also dropped a pair of 3-1 decisions to Mercer and UAB. The Gamecocks' lone win at the tourney came versus Presbyterian (3-0).
Offensively, sophomore outside hitter Emily Rutherford paces the club with 3.07 kills per set. Middle blocker Nicole Merget is second in that category with 2.36 kps and has been extremely efficient in her hitting, coming into play with a .352 percentage - seventh best in the Ohio Valley. Merget also leads the club at the net as the 6-3 junior has 15 total blocks this season for a 1.07 per set average, which ranks third in the OVC.
Kelly Cole was outstanding in the defensive back court over the weekend as she averaged 5.29 digs per set, second most in the league. Rutherford is second on the team in digs with 3.21, while as a team, the Gamecocks are averaging 18.07.
JSU was picked to finish fourth in the East Division in the Ohio Valley preseason poll.
Lipscomb began the 2013 season this past weekend at the Bulldog Invitational, recording a 1-2 record. The Lady Bisions fell 3-0 to tourney host Georgia and 3-1 to TCU, but did defeat Furman 3-0.
LU comes into its home tournament averaging 15.1 kills per set and hitting .230. The Lady Bisons lead the Atlantich Sun in both kills and assists, while ranking second in the conference in hitting.
The Lipscomb offensive attack is led by the duo of Jewell Dobson and Lauren Ford. Dobson - a 6-0 middle blocker - leads the club with 44 kills and a 4.40 kps average, while Ford - a 5-11 outside hitter - is second on the team with 41 kills and a 4.10 kps average. Dobson is also hitting .390 in the three matches thus far this season.
Both Dobson and Ford, along with senior setter Caitlin Dotson (12.20 aps) earned all-conference honors during the preseason.
Sophie Kellerman anchors the back court with 3.60 digs 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 South Alabama and Samford will be the 21st in the all-time series between the two clubs. The Jags and the Bulldogs are currently tied 10-10 in the series. Last season, Samford picked up a 3-1 victory over USA at the Georgia State Invitational in Atlanta, Ga. The Jaguars are also 17-18 all-time versus opponents from the Southern Conference. This past weekend, South Alabama fell 3-1 versus SoCon member Georgia Southern in Mobile. The meeting between South Alabama and Jacksonville State will be the third between the two clubs and the first since 1996. USA holds a 2-0 lead in the all-time series after picking up a 3-2 victory in that last meeting. The Jaguars are 9-6 all-time versus Ohio Valley members. USA captured a 3-1 victory over Tennessee State this past weekend at the Jaguar Invitational. South Alabama will also face one more OVC members this season - Tennessee-Martin on Sept. 13. The meeting between South Alabama and Lipscomb will be just the second-ever between the two programs. The Lady Bisons hold a 1-0 advantage in the all-time series, picking up a 3-2 victory over the Jags back during the 2007 season in Mobile. The meeting will also be the 52nd time the Jaguars have faced an opponent from the Atlantic Sun Conference. USA is 22-28-1 all-time versus the league. Florida Gulf Coast is the lone member from the A-Sun that USA has yet to face.
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