Match Notes: Matches 17-19 (at Troy, vs. Texas-Arlington, vs. Georgia Southern)MOBILE, Ala. – This week marks a busy week for the University of South Alabama volleyball team as the Jaguars will play three matches in four days beginning with a 6 p.m. match up versus in-state rival Troy on Wednesday evening at Trojan Arena. USA will then return home to host Texas-Arlington on Friday night and Georgia Southern on Saturday night. First serve for both of those matches is set for 6 p.m. at Jag Gym.
"This week we plan to take it one match at a time," South Alabama head coach Amy Hendrichovsky said. "Right now, we are focused on Troy. Our team knows that it is a process and they have been working very hard on certain elements needed to improve our game. Along with that, we need to go into each match expecting to battle and rise to the challenges given."
Live stats and web streaming for all three matches will be available at www.USAJaguars.com and can be accessed on the Jaguar volleyball schedule page.
South Alabama (8-8, 3-3 SBC) enters play this week after snapping a three-match skid with a 3-1 victory at Georgia State on Saturday. The match versus the Trojans on Wednesday night will be the first of three over a four-day stretch of the Jaguars this week.
Mechell Daniel returned to her all-conference form over the weekend. The Chelmsford, England, native recorded 29 kills for a 3.63 kills per set average in her two matches, while also recording a .342 hitting percentage and averaging 2.38 dps. Daniel currently ranks ninth in the Sun Belt in kills with 3.11 per set. She also leads the club with six double-doubles on the year.
Fellow sophomore Jessica Lewis leads the team and ranks eighth in the Sun Belt with 3.14 kills per set. Like Daniel, Lewis is coming off a strong performance as she had 14 kills and hit .324 against Georgia State on Saturday.
One key stat for South Alabama in its eight wins has been in the serving department. In those matches, the Jags have held a 48-26 advantage in service aces and are averaging 1.60 per set, compared to just 0.67 by the opposition. In its losses, USA's opponents hold a 56-23 advantage in that same area and are averaging 2.07 aces per set, compared to the Jaguars' 0.85. South Alabama tied a season-high with 10 aces in its last match versus the Panthers.
Troy comes into action this week with a 9-10 overall record and a 1-6 mark in Sun Belt play. The Trojans got off to a quick start this season, winning eight of their first nine matches. However, after falling in straight sets this past week at Georgia Southern and at Appalachian State, Troy has now dropped nine of its last 10 coming into the match versus the Jags on Wednesday.
Of the Trojans' six conference losses, four have been in five sets.
Offensively, Troy has four players averaging over two kills per set. Junior outside hitter Blair Winston paces the club with 2.99 kps. Symone Shaw is averaging 2.61 per set, while Marija Zelenovic and Kiah Cheatham are close behind with 2.44 and 2.08 per set, respectively.
Troy's 369 kills this season rank as 33rd most nationally in the latest NCAA rankings.
Cheatham enters play this week sitting in ninth-place in the league in hitting percentage (.302). Junior libero Ali Dowdall is fifth in the Sun Belt with 4.61 digs per set. Troy is averaging 14.89 digs per set as a team.
The Trojans also rank third in the Sun Belt in blocks, averaging 2.13 per set.
Texas-Arlington (13-5, 3-3 SBC) comes into play this week tied with the Jaguars for fifth-place in the SBC standings. UTA is coming off a pair of 3-1 losses at Arkansas-Little Rock and at Arkansas State over the weekend. The Mavericks will take on in-state rival Texas State on Wednesday, prior to traveling to Mobile.
As a team, Texas-Arlington leads the Sun Belt and ranks 13th nationally in opponent's hitting percentage, limiting the opposition to a .144 percentage. UTA also ranks second in digs (17.78) and blocks (2.54) and third in assists (12.51) and hitting percentage (.233). The Mavericks are sixth in digs in the latest NCAA rankings.
UTA has three players ranked in the top 10 individually in hitting. Sophomore middle blocker Brianna Sharratt currently leads the SBC in hitting and ranks 17th in the NCAA in that category with a .414 percentage. Stacey Koch is third in the Sun Belt at .374 and Taylor Gross is eighth in the league at .306.
True freshman Qiana Canete has been a leader both offensively and defensively for the Mavericks. Canete leads the club and ranks 10th in the conference in kills with 3.10 per set, while also ranking eight in the league in blocks with 3.99 per set. The 5-10 outside hitter also has 11 double-doubles this season, including a 13 kill, 24 dig performance against Arkansas State, and on Monday was named the league's freshman of the week for the second time this season.
Along the net, Sharratt and Ashley Bennett enter as one of the top defensive duos in the SBC. Sharratt is averaging 1.24 blocks per set, which ranks second in the league, while Bennett is third with 1.13 blocks per set.
First-year Sun Belt Conference member Georgia Southern (2-14, 2-5 SBC) entered the 2014 season as one of the favorites for the league title after recording a 28-6 record a year ago, but the Eagles got off to a slow start, dropping its first 12 matches of the season.
GSU has played better lately, splitting its last four SBC matches. This past weekend, the Eagles picked up a straight-set win over Troy, before falling 3-1 to Arkansas-Little Rock in Statesboro.
The Eagles are led offensively by the duo of Jamie DeRatt and Kym Cooley. DeRatt leads the club and ranks fifth in the SBC in kills with 3.35 per set. Cooley is averaging just under three kills per set at 2.91, and her .386 hitting percentage is second-highest in the league coming into play this week.
Both DeRatt and Cooley were selected preseason all-conference prior to the start of the year.
Junior setter Kat Minnerly is one of the top players in the Sun Belt at her position. Minnerly currently ranks third with 10.30 assists per set. Leah Joseph is fifth in the Sun Belt in blocks with 1.04 per set.
NOTES: The match versus the Trojans on Wednesday night will be the 62nd versus South Alabama. The Jaguars hold a 38-23 advantage in the all-time series, but the Trojans have won three of the last four meetings. USA also holds a 15-11 advantage in the series in matches held in Troy. The Jags have won three of the last four meetings in the series in Troy. Last season, the two clubs split the series with each winning on the other's home court. The match versus the Mavericks on Friday night will mark the fifth in the all-time series versus the Jaguars. UTA holds a 3-1 advantage in the series. USA is 1-0 versus the Mavericks in Mobile. Texas-Arlington won two of the three meetings during the 2013 season, including a 3-0 win in the quarterfinal round of the SBC Championship. The match versus the Eagles on Saturday night will mark the fourth in the all-time series with the Jags. Georgia Southern has won all three of the previous meetings, including a 3-1 win over USA in Mobile last season, the only meeting in the series on the Jags' home court.
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).
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