Box Score - South Alabama 3, Georgia State 0 (.pdf)MOBILE, Ala. – The University of South Alabama volleyball team remained perfect in Sun Belt Conference play with a 3-0 (25-18, 25-14, 25-18) win over Georgia State on Sunday at Jag Gym. The win was also the seventh in the last eight matches for USA.
"It's a 20-match conference season, which is the most we've ever played." South Alabama head coach Amy Hendrichovsky said. "I keep telling myself and the team that we can't get too high or too low. We just have to take it one match at a time. It was nice to get our second win, but there are many more that we would like to get this season."
The Jags (7-5, 2-0 SBC) will continue Sun Belt action this week when they travel to take on Texas State Thursday night at 6:30 p.m. at Strahan Coliseum. USA will then return home to host Arkansas State on Saturday at 6 p.m. at Jag Gym.
The 2-0 start to league play is just the third time (2014, 2011 and 2001) for the program.
South Alabama posted a season-best .368 hitting percentage in the victory, recording 40 kills on 87 attacks, while committing just eight attack errors. USA hit .323 or better in all three sets, posting a .424 in the third frame.
"I didn't think we were really in our rhythm with our pass, but that got better through the match," Hendrichovsky said. "It was nice to see us be efficient though. That was probably our most efficient performance this season. It's good to see this type of performance at this point in the season and we're going to continue to work on that area."
Mechell Daniel led the Jaguars with 11 kills to go along with her five digs and four block assists, while Jessica Lewis had seven kills of her own and a .375 hitting percentage. Mallory Moore also had seven kills off the bench and finished with a .400 percentage. Nikki Gittens and Symone Stephenson also chipped in with six and five kills, respectively.
Stephenson was also a force at the net as the sophomore middle blocker led all players with six total blocks – one solo and five assists.
Georgia State (3-9, 1-2 SBC) placed two players in double figures. Deidra Bohannon led the club with 15 kills, while Eliza Zachary had 10 kills of her own.
SET ONE: SOUTH ALABAMA 25, GEORGIA STATE 18South Alabama got off to a quick start in the first set, beginning the match on a 7-1 run. Daniel sparked the early scoring for the Jags with a kill and two block assists.
With the Jaguars leading 16-11 after another kill from Daniel, Georgia State began to attempt to rally back, pushing across three-straight points to trim USA's lead to two (16-14) on an ace by Kristina Stinson.
Three points later with South Alabama leading by three, Lewis helped the Jags break the set open as the sophomore blasted three-straight kills to go along with a Panther attack error to put the Jaguars up 22-15.
From there, South Alabama held control and took the early 1-0 lead in the match with a 25-18 first set win after Georgia State's seventh serving error for the frame.
Lewis led the Jaguar attack with five kills and a .571 hitting percentage, while as a team, South Alabama hit .348. Savannah Stewart also had two aces for South Alabama.
SET TWO: SOUTH ALABAMA 25, GEORGIA STATE 14In the second set with USA holding a 4-3 advantage, the Jaguars gained some breathing room as they pushed across four of the next five points to stretch their lead out to four points. Stephenson and Lewis gave USA the 8-4 lead with a block assists.
South Alabama later stretched its lead out to double figures as Daniel registered her third kill of the frame to put USA up 19-9. During the 4-0 run for the Jags, Daniel had a pair of put aways and a block assist.
USA held control from there and took the two sets to none lead in the match with a 25-14 win in the set. For the second-straight set, USA hit over .300 recording a .323 percentage as it has 13 kills on 31 attacks and just three errors.
SET THREE: SOUTH ALABAMA 25, GEORGIA STATE 18Coming out of the intermission, the Jaguars again got off to a quick start and grabbed the momentum early on in the third and final set. Gittens began a 4-0 run to start the set with a solo block and Daniels added two more kills. She would finish with six in the set.
GSU answered back with three points of its own, but USA didn't allow the Panthers to get any closer as it rattled off five of the next six points. Moore slammed home another kill to give the Jaguars a 9-4 advantage. The four-point margin would prove to be as close as Georgia State would get the rest of the way as South Alabama went on to take the set 25-18. Daniel sealed the seven-point win and clinched the match with her 11th kill of the afternoon.
In the final set, USA recorded 17 kills and committed just three attack errors.
NOTES: With the straight-set win over Georgia State, South Alabama improved to 5-2 in the all-time series and extended its win streak in the series to four. USA is also now 2-0 in the series in matches played in Mobile. The Jaguars have also now won four of their last five Sun Belt home openers. The 2-0 start to league play is just the third time (2014, 2011 and 2001) for the program. The win versus GSU was also the seventh in the last eight matches for USA. South Alabama posted a season-best .368 hitting percentage against the Panthers, recording 40 kills on 87 attacks, while committing just eight attack errors. USA hit .323 or better in all three sets, posting a .424 in the third frame. The six total blocks by Symone Stephenson were a season-best for the sophomore middle blocker.
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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