Match Notes: Matches 25-26 - vs. Louisiana-Lafayette and at Texas-Arlington (.pdf)MOBILE, Ala. – The University of South Alabama volleyball team will host Louisiana-Lafayette on Friday night at Jag Gym and then travel to Texas-Arlington on Sunday. First serve versus ULL is set for 6 p.m., while the Jags and the Mavericks are scheduled for a noon start at the University Center on the UTA campus.
The two matches will be important for South Alabama as the Jaguars try to earn a spot in this season's conference tournament later this month.
"At this point in the season, every match in conference is important," South Alabama head coach Amy Hendrichovsky said. "Louisiana-Lafayette is a respectable, well coached team and I expect them to come in and battle on Friday night. Earlier in the season when we played UTA, they executed their transition offense efficiently. Much of that was due to the fact they are a solid defensive team. For us to be successful against both teams this week, we will have to control the ball on our side of the net and grind defensively."
Live stats and web streaming for both matches will be available at www.USAJaguars.com and can be accessed on the Jaguar volleyball schedule page.
South Alabama (10-14, 5-9 SBC) enters this weekend's two matches looking to break out of a recent slump. Over the weekend, USA dropped a pair of 3-1 decisions, falling at Georgia Southern on Friday night and to Texas State at home on Sunday. The loss to the Bobcats was the sixth in the last seven matches for the Jaguars.
Offensively, South Alabama continues to be led by the sophomore duo of Mechell Daniel and Jessica Lewis. Both players averaged over four kills per set for the Jags this past weekend.
Daniel has led USA offensively in 15 matches this season, including eight of the last nine. The Chelmsford, England, native ranks fifth in the Sun Belt Conference with her 3.46 kills per set average. She has recorded double-figure kill matches in 18 of USA's 23 matches this season and has a team-best 10 double-doubles on the year. Daniel is third on the club with her 2.58 digs per set.
Lewis has led USA offensively on eight occasions during the 2014 season and has posted double-digit kill tallies on 16 occasions. Lewis ranks ninth in the latest SBC rankings with her 3.19 kills per set average.
Senior libero Jenna Hassell is also approaching history as she enters play this week. The Niceville, Fla., native is just 31 digs behind Keturah Carter (1,509) for first place on South Alabama's career digs list. Hassell has 1,478 for her career. Hassell moved into second place over the weekend with her 17 digs at Georgia Southern, passing Ninette Encalade (1,455).
The Jaguars are led at the net by middle blockers Nikki Gittens and Symone Stephenson. Gittens leads the team with 53 total blocks, while Stephenson has 51 blocks this season.
Louisiana-Lafayette (16-11, 5-10 SBC) comes into Friday night's match trailing the Jaguars by a half match and sitting in ninth place in the Sun Belt standings.
ULL began the year with 10-straight wins, but have since gone 6-11. The Ragin' Cajuns dropped a pair of 3-2 decisions at home over the weekend, falling to Texas State and Arkansas State. Coming into the weekend, ULL has lost six of its last seven with five of those six losses coming against league competition.
Louisiana-Lafayette has four players with 200 or more kills coming into play this week. Sara Mossakowski leads the club with 280 kills and is averaging 2.64 kills per set. Mossakowski also has 240 digs, 30 aces and 39 total blocks. She she is tied with two other players for eighth in the Sun Belt in serving.
Chanelle Gardner is averaging 2.47 kps for the Cajuns and ranks eighth in the league with a .305 hitting percentage. She leads ULL at the net with 89 total blocks - 22 solo and 67 assists.
Kaylee Nemeth (208 kills) and Stacey Reilly (205 kills) have also been offensive weapons for the Ragin' Cajuns.
Directing the ULL offense is senior setter Andrea Hole. Hole has 1,079 assists this season and is averaging 10.18 per set - fifth-most in the SBC. Hole also leads the club and ranks sixth in the conference in serving with 31 aces.
Louisiana-Lafayette is holding its opponents to a .176 hitting percentage on the year – third-lowest in the league.
Texas-Arlington (21-6, 11-4 SBC) enters play this week sitting in third place in the Sun Belt and holding a half-match lead over fourth-place Arkansas State.
On Sunday, the Mavericks had their eight-match win streak snapped in a 3-0 loss at Appalachian State.
UTA has been led offensively by Qiana Canete who has been named the SBC Freshman of the Week on four occasions this season. Canete has 314 kills on the year and ranks 10th in the conference with 3.16 kills per set. She has 17 double-doubles on the year. She is averaging 3.98 digs per set, which ranks seventh in the most recent SBC statistics.
The Mavericks also have three other players averaging two kills per set or better. Taylor Gross is second on the UTA roster in that category with 2.29 per set.
Stacey Koch (2.25 kps) and Briana Sharratt (2.15 kps) have been outstanding hitting the ball. Koch is hitting .317 coming into the match and ranks sixth in the conference in that category, while Sharratt's .427 percentage leads the Sun Belt and is eighth in the NCAA. As a team, UT Arlington is second in the SBC with a .231 percentage.
UTA has been strong defensively as well as it is holding opponents to a .152 hitting percentage - also second in the Sun Belt.
Texas-Arlington leads the Sun Belt and the nation in the NCAA in digs with 18.48 per set, and also ranks second in the conference in blocks (2.51).
Sharratt and Ashley Bennett come into play this week among the league leaders in that latter category. Sharratt is second with 1.31 blocks per set – 39th in the NCAA, while Bennett is fourth with 1.04 blocks per set.
Junior libero Caitlyn Cooney is third in the league in digs and ranks 15th nationally with 5.36 per set.
NOTES: The match versus the Ragin' Cajuns on Friday will mark the 57th in the all-time series versus the Jags. Louisiana-Lafayette holds a 31-15 advantage in those previous meetings, but South Alabama has won five-straight dating back to the 2011 season, including a 3-2 victory over ULL in the first meeting this season. USA is 9-10 in matches in the series played on the Jaguars' home court and have won the last four meetings in Mobile. The match versus the Mavericks on Sunday will mark the sixth in the all-time series versus the Jaguars. UTA holds a 4-1 advantage in the series. Texas-Arlington won the first meeting this season, defeating the Jags 3-0 in Mobile. The lone win for South Alabama in the series came last year in Mobile. UTA is 2-0 versus USA on its home floor.
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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