Box Score - South Alabama 3, Louisiana-Lafayette 2 (.pdf)

LAFAYETTE, La. – The University of South Alabama volleyball team placed four players in double figures offensively and opened up the Sun Belt Conference portion of its schedule with a thrilling 3-2 (25-23, 17-25, 25-14, 17-25, 16-14) road win over Louisiana-Lafayette Wednesday night at Earl K. Long Gym.

"I knew coming into this match that Louisiana-Lafayette was executing at a high level and I knew that it was going to be a battle for our team," South Alabama head coach Amy Hendrichovsky said.  "I thought that our players came into the first set very focused on our game plan and that they executed that nicely.  I give credit to (Louisiana-) Lafayette for pushing us back and battling back.  It was a good, competitive match and I was glad for us to get the win in the end."

The Jaguars (6-5, 1-0 SBC) will now return home this weekend to host Georgia State on Sunday at noon at Jag Gym.  Live stats and web streaming for the match versus the Panthers will be available at www.USAJaguars.com.

USA was led by Jessica Lewis' 17 kills and two solo blocks.  Mechell Daniel also recorded her fifth double-double of the season with a 14 kill, 13 dig performance.  Middle blocker Nikki Gittens tied a career-high with 12 kills and also led the club at the net with five total blocks – one solo and four assists – to go along with her two service aces.  Mallory Moore chipped in with 10 kills of her own, while junior setter Emily Hundt registered her fourth double-double of the season as well with 44 assists and 10 digs.

"Offensively, we have multiple weapons and have the ability to be a balanced offense," Hendrichovsky said.  "When our setters can find the hot hand and balance this offense, it makes it difficult for our opponents to defend."

In the defensive back court, Abby Baker, the reigning SBC Defensive Player of the Week, led all players with 25 digs for the Jags.   Savannah Stewart also added 10 digs of her own.

The loss was the first of the season for Louisiana-Lafayette and dropped the Ragin' Cajuns to 10-1 on the year and 0-1 in the league.  Chanelle Gardner led the club with 13 kills and five block assists in the loss.  Sara Mossakowski and Stacey Reilly each finished with 12 kills apiece, while also posting 11 and 14 digs, respectively.  Kaylee Nemeth came in off the bench and added nine kills of her own and finished with a .350 hitting percentage.

ULL setter Andrea Hole added 47 assists and 10 digs of her own.  

SET ONE: SOUTH ALABAMA 25, LOUISIANA-LAFAYETTE 23
Louisiana-Lafayette led by as much as three early on in the opening set, but the Jaguars battled back and took a 14-12 lead after an ace by Savannah Stewart.  USA held the two-point advantage over the next several points.  ULL though tied the contest back up at 17-17 and then took a two-point lead of its own after an ace and a kill by Mossakowski.  

USA answered back with three-straight points of its own on kills from Symone Stephenson, Lewis and Moore to take a 20-19 lead, but Mossakowski slammed home her seventh kill of the set to bring things all square.  The Ragin' Cajuns picked up the next two points to again stretch their lead out to two (22-20), but the Jags closed the set strong, ending the frame on a 5-1 run.

The South Alabama defense began the pivotal run as Gittens and Emma Anderson combined to turn back a ULL attack.  Then with the set tied at 23-23, Hundt and Gittens teamed up for a block assist and Gittens then clinched the 25-23 win for the Jaguars with her third kill of the set.

SET TWO: LOUISIANA-LAFAYETTE 25, SOUTH ALABAMA 17
In the second set, it was the Jaguars who got off to a quick start, picking up the first three points on a kill and a solo block from Lewis and a Cajun attack error, but ULL rallied back and took a one-point advantage (7-6) following a pair of Mossakowski kills and an Abby Flice put away.

Louisiana-Lafayette later extended its lead out to 13-9 after a kill by Stacey Reilly kill.  

USA was able to narrow the deficit to two more times, but with ULL holding a 15-13 lead, ULL stretched its lead out to five after a kill and an ace by Gardner.  From there, the Ragin' Cajuns held control and evened the match at one set apiece with the 25-17 second-set win.

SET THREE: SOUTH ALABAMA 25, LOUISIANA-LAFAYETTE 14
Holding a one-point advantage (5-4) early in the third set, South Alabama gained some breathing room as it rattled off five unanswered points and took a 10-4 lead on kill from Daniel.

Over the next several points, ULL hung around and held the deficit to three much of the way.  Led by Daniel though – who had eight kills during the third set – South Alabama used a late run to pull away from the Ragin' Cajuns.  With USA holding an 18-13 lead, Daniel sparked a 5-0 spurt as the sophomore recorded three more kills during the run.  Hundt capped off the scoring and gave the Jaguars a double-digit lead (23-13) with an ace.  

Moore later sealed the 25-14 win and put USA up 2-1 in the match with back-to-back kills, her fourth and fifth, respectively, of the set.  Lewis also had four kills for South Alabama in the third set.

SET FOUR: LOUISIANA-LAFAYETTE 25, SOUTH ALABAMA 17
After dropping the previous set, ULL came out and jumped out early in the fourth, capturing the first four points of the frame, two of which coming on a pair of Keely Hayes aces.  

Trailing 14-8 later in the frame, the Jaguars attempted to rally back as they picked up six of the next seven points and cut the deficit to 15-14 on an ace by Gittens.  However, USA would draw no closer as on the next point, the Jags committed a serving error, igniting a 6-0 run for the host Cajuns.  Nemeth led the charge for Louisiana-Lafayette during the run as she posted three kills and a block assists to extend ULL's lead out to 20-14.

Chanelle Gardner later sent the two clubs into a deciding fifth set as she posted her fourth kill of the frame to give the Ragin' Cajuns a 25-17 win.  

SET FIVE: SOUTH ALABAMA 16, LOUISIANA-LAFAYETTE 14
South Alabama broke an early 3-3 tie in the final set after a pair of kills from Gittens and an ace.  USA later extended its lead out to four (9-5) after kills from Daniel and Moore.

Two points later, ULL charged right back and cut the Jaguar lead to 10-9 after a kill from Nemeth.  

Coming out of a time out, Lewis slammed home a pair of kills and ULL committed an attack error to put USA up 13-9.  Two points later, Lewis put the Jags at match point, but Reilly posted another kill to keep the Cajuns alive.  South Alabama then registered three consecutive attack errors to even the set back up at 14-14.

The all-conference duo of Lewis and Daniel would have the answer though for the Jaguars as they each recorded a kill to clinch the 16-14 win for South Alabama.

NOTES: The match versus Louisiana-Lafayette Wednesday night was the 56th in the all-time series.  Dating back to the 2011 season, USA has now won five-straight in the series and its last three meetings versus ULL in Lafayette.  South Alabama is now 7-16 in both Sun Belt openers and SBC road openers.  The Jags have won four of their last five SBC openers.  The 14 kill, 13 digs performance was the fifth double-double of the season for USA's Mechell Daniel.  Jaguar setter Emily Hundt also posted her fourth double-double of the season against ULL with 44 assists and 10 digs.  Nikki Gittens tied a season-high with 12 kills of her own.  The loss was the first for Louisiana-Lafayette this season and snapped a 10-match win streak for the program.

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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