Box Score - Samford 3, Jacksonville State 0 (.pdf)
Box Score - Jacksonville State 3, South Alabama 1 (.pdf)
MOBILE, Ala. – University of South Alabama women's volleyball player Deanna Canfield registered her first career-double double in the night cap versus Jacksonville State on Friday, but the Jaguars dropped a pair of matches at the Lipscomb Invitational held at Allen Arena on the Lipscomb University campus.
"I schedule these tournaments with a purpose," South Alabama head coach Amy Hendrichovsky said. "This is the second weekend of the season and this is where we need to find out who we are as a team and where we're at. These teams that we are playing this weekend are going challenge us and that's why we're here. We learned today that other teams are out-working us and we need to work harder and build our identity. As we head into tomorrow, I hope our girls learn from this and that we improve."
USA (2-3) will close out tournament play on Saturday when the Jaguars take on the host Lady Bisons at 2:30 p.m. Live stats and video for the match can be accessed on the Jags' schedule page at www.USAJaguars.com.
MATCH ONE – SAMFORD 3, SOUTH ALABAMA 0
In the opening match of the tournament, Samford (4-2) picked up a 3-0 (25-19, 25-20, 25-20) over South Alabama.
Offensively, freshman outside hitter Mechell Daniel led USA with seven kills, while Mallory Moore and Symone Stephenson finished with six and five, respectively. Stephenson recorded a .556 hitting percentage and three block assists. Fellow freshman libero Abby Baker had a season-best 18 digs, which tied for high marks in the match.
The Bulldogs placed three players in double figures offensively, led by Michaela Ressor's 15. Erin Bognar had 12 kills on 23 attacks and committed just two attack errors and post a .435 hitting percentage, while Katie Murphy registered 10 kills on 23 attempts and had two errors for a .348 hitting percentage.
As a team, Samford posted 50 kills in the match and hit .284, to South Alabama's 27 kills and .167 attack percentage.
Chelsi Carter paced SU in the defensive back court with 18 digs.
SET ONE: SAMFORD 25, SOUTH ALABAMA 19
Tied 9-9 in the opening set after a Stephenson (USA) kill, Samford rattled off five of the next six points to take a four-point lead. Murphy and Bognar each registered two kills apiece during the Bulldog run and Murphy then teamed up with Ressor to turn back a Jaguar attack and give Samford the 14-10 advantage.
Coming out of a time out though, South Alabama trimmed the deficit to one after a kill by Nikki Gittens and back-to-back aces from Daniel – who also led USA with four kills during the first set. However, Samford answered right back with three-straight points to extend its lead back out to four. From there, the Jaguars could draw no closer as the Bulldogs went on to take the set, 25-19.
Samford used a solid offensive attack in the first frame as it recorded a .316 hitting percentage (16 kills, 4 errors, 38 attacks). Murphy and Bognar each posted five kills apiece in the set, while Ressor had four and the Bulldogs had 16 as a team.
SET TWO: SAMFORD 25, SOUTH ALABAMA 20
With the two clubs tied at 4-4 early in the second set, USA was the first to gain some breathing room as the Jags pushed across four straight points. The run was started by a pair of Samford attack errors. Gittens and Baker then each recorded a kill to extend the USA advantage to four (8-4).
Samford battled back and cut the deficit to 9-8 on a kill from Ressor, but South Alabama took the next three points to extend its lead back out to four.
The Bulldogs again made another charge, this time taking the lead for good. With USA leading 12-8, Samford erupted on a 14-1 run, which began with 11 unanswered points. Ressor led the scoring for Samford with three of her seven kills in the frame coming during the pivotal run. Taylor Palmer capped off the scoring and gave SU its largest lead at 22-13 with a kill of her own.
The Jaguars attempted to battle back and reeled off six-straight points of their own to narrow the Bulldogs' lead to 23-20 after a Canfield kill. Daniel and Stephenson also added a kill and block assist for USA, but Murphy recorded back-to-back kills on the next two points to seal the five-point win for Samford.
For the second consecutive set, Samford registered 16 kills in the frame.
SET THREE: SAMFORD 25, SOUTH ALABAMA 20
After trailing by one early on in the third set, Samford reeled off four-straight points and took a 9-6 lead when Stephanie Palmer dumped in a kill. Palmer, along with Ressor each had two kills during the scoring spurt for the Bulldogs. South Alabama continued to fight over the next several points and eventually retook the lead at 13-12 after a block assists from Stephenson and Moore. The Jaguar block capped off a 5-1 USA run.
The two clubs exchanged the next two points, but Samford was able to push across three-straight points courtesy of kills from Taylor Palmer, Murphy and Bognar and take a 16-14 lead.
USA pulled to within one twice over the next few points, but that was as close as the Jags would get the rest of the way as the Bulldogs held on and took the match with the 25-20 third-set victory. Bognar led SU with six more kills, while the Bulldogs posted 18 in the frame.
MATCH TWO – JACKSONVILLE STATE 3, SOUTH ALABAMA 1
In its second match of the day, South Alabama dropped a heartbreaking 3-1 (26-28, 27-25, 23-25, 20-25) decision to Jacksonville State.
Canfield led the way both offensively and defensively for the Jaguars with her first career double-double, 14 kills and 20 digs – both career-best for the sophomore outside hitter.
"We're dealing with some injuries right now and other people are getting opportunities on the court that they might not normally be getting," Hendrichovsky said. "We're looking for people to step up and take advantage of their opportunity that they're being given right now. I know some people will do that and tonight Deanna went after it and was aggressive. That's what we were asking her to do. We need to improve though as a team because we didn't come out with the 'W'".
Daniel chipped in with 12 kills for USA, while Gittens added nine. Kelly Little also posted a career-best in the match with 14 digs.
Emily Rutherford paced the Gamecocks with 22 kills and 16 digs, while Nicole Merget finished in double figures with 15 kills and a .364 hitting percentage. Alina Agamy also posted a double-double with 46 assists and 13 digs. Kelly Cole led all players with 26 digs in the win for JSU.
One key stat of the match was at the net where USA had 13 total blocks – one solo and 12 assists, while JSU finished with 22 – two solo and 20 assists. Three players for Jacksonville State ended the night with four blocks, led by Merget – one solo and four assists.
SET ONE: JACKSONVILLE STATE 28, SOUTH ALABAMA 26
With South Alabama holding a one-point lead in the first set, Jacksonville State put together a 5-1 run over the next six points to take an 8-5 lead after an ace from Taylor Long.
The Jaguars kept battling over the next several points and trimmed the deficit to one four times before finally tying the set back up at 17. Moore's kill cut the JSU lead to 17-16 and Deanna Canfield knotted things up on the next point with one of her four kills in the opening set.
The Gamecocks sat one point away (24-21) from taking the first set after a block assist from Victoria Cross and Taylor Long, but the Jaguars fought off three-straight set-points and sent the frame to extra points after a kill by Daniel.
Jacksonville State took the lead for good on a Jag attack error and Samantha Bohne dropped in an ace to clinch the 28-26 win for JSU.
Rutherford led all players with seven kills on 15 attacks and no errors for a .467 hitting percentage.
SET TWO: SOUTH ALABAMA 27, JACKSONVILLE STATE 25
South Alabama led by four (9-5) in the second set, but the Gamecocks came right back and used a 6-1 run to take a 14-12 advantage later in the set. Merget led the JSU run with four of her seven kills in the frame.
USA would answer back though and tie things back up four points later at 15-15 after a kill from Canfield.
JSU later retook the lead (21-20) on a kill from Cross and set one point away from going up two sets to none in the match after Rutherford's sixth kill of the frame.
Like in the first set though, South Alabama battled and fought off two set points to send the frame into extra points again. This time though, the Jaguars would complete the rally. Daniel blasted two-straight kills to put USA up by one and Kiki von Piekartz then dropped in a kill of her own to seal the 27-25 win for the Jags and even the match at 1-1.
SET THREE: JACKSONVILLE STATE 25, SOUTH ALABAMA 23
Tiding the momentum of the comeback win in the previous set, South Alabama opened up the third frame by taking nine of the first 12 points to jump out to a six-point lead. During the Jaguar run, five different players recorded a kill for USA.
JSU answered right back with a huge run of its own, reeling an 11-1 run to take a 14-10 lead. Rutherford and Laney Torkelson gave the Gamecocks the lead with a block assist and Rutherford later capped off the scoring and gave Jacksonville State the four-point advantage with two-straight kills.
USA fought back and reeled off five unanswered points to reclaim the lead after a kill from Moore, but led by Cross – who had two kills and a block assists over the next three points – retook the lead at 18-15.
The Jaguars made another late run at the Gamecocks tying the frame up at 22-22, but JSU eventually went on to take the set (25-23) after Rutherford's sixth kill of the set and a South Alabama attack error.
SET FOUR: JACKSONVILLE STATE 25, SOUTH ALABAMA 20
After surrendering the first three points of the fourth set, South Alabama answered back with six of the next seven and took a 6-4 lead after a kill by Daniel.
JSU came right back with a 6-3 run over the next nine points and retook the lead on a kill from Torkelson. The set remained close over much of the remainder of the set, but with USA holding a 19-17 advantage, the Gamecocks closed strong. Led by Merget – who had four kills and a block assists down the stretch – Jacksonville State finished off the set and the match with an 8-1 run, which began with six-straight points.
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 18 kills by Samford in the third set where the most by a Jaguar opponent to that point, besting the previous total of 17 set by Tennessee State. The 18 digs by Abby Baker versus Samford are the fifth-most by a Jag in three-set match and the first since Katariina Kananen did so against North Texas on Oct. 21, 2011. With the loss, South Alabama falls to 10-11 in the all-time series. The Jaguars are now 17-19 all-time versus opponents from the Southern Conference and 0-2 versus the league this season. The loss by the Jaguars to Jacksonville State was the first in the series as USA is now 2-1 in the series. The meeting was the first between the two clubs since the 1996 season. South Alabama is 9-7 all-time versus Ohio Valley members and 1-1 against the league this season. South Alabama will also face one more OVC members this season - Tennessee-Martin on Sept. 13. JSU bettered Samford's tally of 18 kills with 19 in the second set versus the Jaguars. Deanna Canfield recorded her first career double-double with career highs in kills (14) and digs (20).
—USA—
