Box Score - Wyoming 3, South Alabama 0 (.pdf)Box Score - South Alabama 3, Montana 2 (.pdf)LARAMIE, Wyo. – The University of South Alabama volleyball team picked up its first win of the season and earned a split Friday at the UniWyo Cowgirl Classic. USA (1-4) fell to tournament host Wyoming 3-0 in the first match of the day, but bounced back to take its second match of the day, defeating Montana 3-2 at the UniWyo Sports Complex.
"We've been talking about controlling the outside of the net and for the most part in our match tonight against Montana, we learned to control our side of the net," South Alabama head coach Amy Hendrichovsky said. "We have been struggling with errors and tonight I applaud my team because they did what we asked them to do. Wyoming is a really good team and executing at a high level right now, but we did some good things against them. We knew coming into tonight's match against Montana that we just needed to hold onto the momentum that we took in the first match."
USA will face close out play versus Ball State on Saturday at 11 a.m. (CT). Live stats for the match will be available at www.USAJaguars.com.
MATCH ONE WYOMING 3, SOUTH ALABAMA 0In its first match of the day, South Alabama struggled to find its offense, hitting just .050 and committed 24 attack errors as Wyoming picked up a 3-0 (25-16, 25-13, 25-20) win over the Jags. The Cowgirls posted a .320 hitting percentage in the match and recorded 12 block assists versus the Jags.
South Alabama was led by Jessica Lewis' 16 kills, which tied a season-high for the sophomore outside hitter.
Wyoming improved to 5-0 with the win and used a balanced offensive attack in the straight-set victory. Bridget Shanahan paced the Cowgirls with 12 kills. Erin Kirby added nine kills of her own and hit .600 in the match, while also posting five block assists at the net. Laura Beach and Kayla Henderson also chipped in with seven kills each. Defensively, Lily Austin led all players with 17 digs.
SET ONE: WYOMING 25, SOUTH ALABAMA 16Wyoming came out in the first set and took the lead straight out of the gate, picking up the first two points of the match on a pair of Jaguar attack errors. USA would go on to commit nine attack errors during the opening set.
The Cowgirls on the other hand got off to a quick offensive start recording six kills on their first eight attempts, while committing now attack errors during that stretch. Henderson gave Wyoming a 14-7 lead with a kill of her own. UW later stretched its lead out to nine (20-11) on Bridget Shanahan's fourth kill of the frame.
Symone Stephenson sparked a run of four straight points for the Jaguars with two block assists and a kill and USA closed the deficit to 20-15 after a Wyoming attack error, but Shanahan – who had four kills in the set – ended the Jag run with a put away. The Cowgirls went on to close out the set by picking up five of the final six points and take the first frame, 25-16. Courtney Chacon sealed the nine-point win for UW with an ace.
Daniel paced South Alabama offensively with five kills and hit .625 in the opening set, while as a club, USA hit just .029 as a team.
SET TWO: WYOMING 25, SOUTH ALABAMA 13South Alabama picked up the first two points to start the second set on a kill from Jessica Lewis and an ace from Kelley Little, but the Cowgirls answered right back and took control with and 11-2 run over the next 13 points to open up a seven-point advantage (11-4). During the UW run, Shanahan added a pair of kills, while Kayla Slofkiss was strong at the net with three block assists.
With USA continuing to struggle to find its offense, Wyoming put the set away with a run of five unanswered points to take a double-digit lead at 18-8 following two more kills from Shanahan, her eighth and ninth, respectively, of the match.
The Cowgirls went on to take a 2-0 lead in the match with the 25-13 second-set win.
For the second consecutive set, South Alabama's offense had difficulties as the Jags committed nine more attack errors and hit -.158 for the set, while Wyoming posted a .323 hitting percentage.
SET THREE: WYOMING 25, SOUTH ALABAMA 20Coming out of the intermission, Wyoming continued to hold the momentum and quickly extended its lead out to double figures. UW opened the final frame with the first three points and later took a 13-3 lead behind the play of the Cowgirl trio of Shanahan, Henderson and Kirby who each had two kills apiece during the run. The Jaguars also added four more attack errors during that same stretch.
Behind the play of Lewis though, USA made a late run at Wyoming, trimming the deficit to as few as three on two occasions, the last coming at 23-20 on a kill from Lewis. Lewis was the offense for South Alabama in the third set as she hit .500 and posted 11 of her 16 kills in the frame.
Slofkiss though ended the Jaguar run and clinched the match for the Cowgirls with back-to-back kills, giving UW the 25-20 third-set win.
MATCH TWO: SOUTH ALABAMA 3, MONTANA 2In the nightcap, South Alabama picked up its first win of the season, defeating Montana 3-2 (25-22, 24-26, 27-25, 25-22, 15-8). The Jaguars were led by the play of the all-conference duo of Mechell Daniel and Lewis. Daniel led all players with a match-best 24 kills and a .352 hitting percentage. The sophomore also chipped in with 11 digs for her second double-double of the season. Lewis also had 20 kills in the victory for USA.
Also finishing in double digits for USA was Nikki Gittens, who tied a career-high with 12 kills and hit .450. As a team, South Alabama ended the match with a season-best 80 kills, compared to just 61 for Montana.
"I felt that Mechell (Daniel), Jessica (Lewis) and Nikki (Gittens) all three had very good offensive performances and were very reliable for Emily (Hundt)," Hendrichovsky said. "They seemed to be getting back into the swing of things similar to the numbers they had at the end of last year. If they keep working hard, they'll continue to get better."
Junior setter Emily Hundt posted her third double-double of the season with 65 assists and 11 digs of her own. Abby Baker had a team-high 19 digs and Savannah Stewart had 14 digs as well.
Montana (0-5) placed four players in double digits offensively led by 18 off the bench from Claire McCown. Capri Richardson had 13 kills, five block assists and hit .545 in the loss, while Janell Sparks and Michelle Robinson added 12 and 11 kills, respectively.
Taylor Schile recorded a math-best 26 digs defensively. UM also had two solo blocks and 20 block assists.
SET ONE: SOUTH ALABAMA 25, MONTANA 22South Alabama led 6-5 early on in the first set versus the Grizzles after a kill by Lewis. Montana quickly reclaimed the lead with a run of three-straight points capped off by a pair of McCown.
With USA trailing 12-9, the Jags tied up the contest three points later after a two kills from Mallory Moore and a Montana attack error.
The Grizzles extended their lead back out to 15-13, but South Alabama answered back and retook the lead for good with a 5-0 scoring spurt. Gittens and Lewis each registered a kill to begin the run and Stewart also dropped in a service ace.
UM trimmed the deficit to one at 18-17 after an ace from Robinson, but that was as close as the Grizzles would get. Daniel led the Jaguar offense down the stretch, recording three of her five kills in the frame over the final four points for USA. Daniel finished the frame with five kills on 11 attempts and no errors for a .455 hitting percentage. As a team, USA – which had struggled with attack errors in its first match of the day – was much better in the opening set of match number two, posting a season best 18 kills and .351 percentage, while committing just five errors.
South Alabama held on to take the early lead in the match, picking up a 25-22 first-set victory.
SET TWO: MONTANA 26, SOUTH ALABAMA 24Like the opening set, Montana picked up the first three points of the frame and eventually stretched its lead out to 8-3 on a kill by Robinson. Robinson had a pair of kills during the opening run and Lindsey Raegan posted two aces.
Daniel – who had seven kills in the set for South Alabama – helped the Jaguars battle back as she recorded four-straight points for USA during one stretch. Moore knotted the contest back up at 11-11 with a put away of her own.
Neither club was able to gain much momentum and pull away over the remainder of the set.
Late in the frame, Daniel and Stephenson teamed up to turn back a Grizzle attack and tie the frame up at 24-24, but Robinson slammed home a kill – one of her five in the frame – and Natalie Jones and Schile them evened the match at a set apiece when they blocked a Jaguar attack to give UM the 26-24 win. Jones had three blocks in the set for Montana.
After being efficient in the first set, South Alabama committed 10 attack errors in the second stanza.
SET THREE: SOUTH ALABAMA 27, MONTANA 25Montana grabbed an early 6-3 in the third set, but South Alabama battled back and tied the set up at 9-9 on a service ace from Daniel.
The Grizzles later pushed their lead back out to three (17-14) after kills from Richardson and Sparks. USA later trimmed the deficit to 19-18 on a kill from Lewis, but UM rattled off three-straight points to extend its lead out to 22-18. The Jags later held off three-straight set-points on a pair of kills by Daniel and an ace from Gittens that tied things up at 24-24.
Daniel again provided the offense for South Alabama as she slammed home two more kills to put USA one-point away from taking the set. Stephenson then sealed the win for the Jaguars with a kill. Daniel had six kills for the Jags in the third set.
SET FOUR: MONTANA 25, SOUTH ALABAMA 22South Alabama held a 10-6 lead in the fourth set following a kill by Daniel, but the Grizzles came right back and reeled off a 6-1 run over the next seven points to take a 12-11 lead. McCown and Jones gave UM the one-point advantage when the duo teamed up for a block.
Montana took a two-point lead (17-15) after back-to-back kills from McCown, but USA came right back and tied the set back up two-points later on an ace from Jenna Hassell.
Richardson quickly put the Grizzles back out in front with a pair of kills on the next two points and Montana would hold the lead from there. South Alabama attempted to rally late again, cutting the UM advantage to 24-22 after Lewis' sixth kill of the set, but McCown gave Montana the 25-22 third-set win with her sixth kill of the frame on the next point.
SET FIVE: SOUTH ALABAMA 15, MONTANA 8The Jaguars and took control of the deciding fifth set from the outset, rattling off the first five points of the set and jumping out to a 9-2 lead. Lewis sparked the early run with three kills and Stewart gave USA the seven-point advantage with an ace.
South Alabama eventually led by as much as nine (13-4) before taking the match with a 15-8 win. Stephenson sealed the win with her eighth kill of the evening.
USA closed the match strong, posting 11 kills on 20 attempts and committed just one attack error for a .500 hitting percentage.
NOTES: The match versus Wyoming was the first ever between the two programs and the fifth time South Alabama has faced a team from the Mountain West Conference. The match with Montana was the first between the two programs since Sept. 1, 1995. The series with the Grizzles is now tied 1-1 and USA is 1-2 versus Big Sky Conference. The .050 hitting percentage by USA versus Wyoming was a season-low for the Jags. South Alabama also recorded a season-low -.138 in the second set against the Cowgirls. The 19 kills in the third set versus Montana on Friday was the most by the Jags in a set this season. South Alabama also hit a season-high .286 percentage for the match and hit over .300 in all three of its sets that it won versus the Grizzles.
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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