Match 23: at Georgia State Match Notes (.pdf)Match 24: at Appalachian State Match Notes (.pdf)MOBILE, Ala. – As the 2015 regular season begins to wind down, the University of South Alabama volleyball team will begin the final month this weekend with a pair of road matches. USA will head to Georgia State on Friday and then travel to take on Appalachian State on Sunday. First serve versus the Panthers is set for 5 p.m. (CT) at the GSU Sports Arena, while first serve versus the Mountaineers is set for 11:30 a.m. (CT).
This weekend's matches will begin a stretch for the Jaguars win which four of their final five contests will come away from Mobile.
"Right now we are focused on taking one match at a time," South Alabama head coach Amy Hendrichovsky said. "Our team has done a great job of improving on what we focus on each week and we have our own goals to meet as we reach November. Looking at this weekend, we have two opponents that will propose challenges and we will create a game plan to best embrace those challenges."
Live stats and web streaming for the match can be accessed at www.USAJaguars.com. Sunday's match against Appalachian State can also be seen on ESPN3. Fans can also keep up with in-match updates by following action on the program's twitter account @USA_Jags_VB.
South Alabama (13-9, 7-4 SBC) comes into play this weekend sitting in fourth place in the league standings and just a game back of Texas State for third.
On Tuesday night, the Jaguars won their third straight match with a 3-1 victory over Troy in Mobile. With the win versus Troy, South Alabama has now won eight of its last 11 matches, including seven of its last nine in Sun Belt action. For the second-straight match, the frontline defense came up big as USA held a double-digit advantage in blocks, 17.0 - 7.0 versus the Trojans.
Over the last 11 matches, three areas have stood out for the Jaguars. Mechell Daniel is averaging just under four kills per set with 3.94 kps, while also averaging 3.13 digs per set and hitting a team-best .280 during that stretch. Emily Hundt has also had 228 digs and averaged 4.85 dps in those matches.
USA has also received improved play at the net, averaging 2.60 blocks per set, while holding opponents to a .167 hitting percentage and surrendering 1.81 blocks per set to the opposition.
Entering play this weekend, Daniel ranks third in the conference offensively with 328 kills and a 3.64 kills per set average. Daniel recorded her team-best 10th double-double of the season against Troy. Over the last 11 matches, Daniel has had seven of her 10 double-doubles. On Wednesday, Daniel was selected as the HERO Sports Gem of the Week.
Middle blocker Nikki Gittens is second on the club offensively, averaging 2.18 kills per set and is hitting .267. Gittens and fellow middle blocker Sara Richardson have been outstanding at the net defensively for the Jaguars this season. Richardson and Gittens have combined for 183 total blocks.
Gittens leads the Jags with 92 blocks and ranks sixth in the SBC with 1.02 bps. Richardson is close behind her with 91 blocks on the year for a 1.01 bps average, which is tied for seventh in the SBC. In their last outing, Gittens posted 10 total blocks - one solo and nine assists - while Richardson had five block assists.
Coming into the match, Richardson also ranks among the conference leaders in hitting as her .301 attack percentage is ninth-best in the SBC.
Senior defensive specialist Emily Hundt has been instrumental in leading the Jaguar defense in the back row this season. The setter turned libero is averaging 4.02, which ranks eighth in the conference. In Sun Belt play, Hundt is averaging 4.89 per set. As a team, USA is averaging 16.47 dps in league action.
As a team, South Alabama ranks third in digs (15.48) and fourth in blocks (2.25).
Georgia State comes into the match versus the Jaguars with a 4-16 overall mark and still in search of its first league win at 0-10. Last weekend, GSU fell 3-2 to UT Arlington and 3-1 to Appalachian State in Atlanta. The Panthers are currently riding a 12-match losing streak as their last win came back on Sept. 11 against Grambling State. Six of their losses have been in five sets, including the first meeting with the Jaguars this season in Mobile.
Offensively, Georgia State is led by the duo of Kristina Stinson and Deidra Bohannon. Stinson leads the club with 230 kills and is averaging 2.88 kps, while Bohannon, a preseason all-SBC selection has 216 kills and a team-best 2.96 kills per set average. Bohannon is also second on the club in digs with 3.05 per set.
Senior middle blocker Kitan Ajanaku's .308 hitting percentage is seventh in the latest SBC rankings. Ajanaku led the club offensively last weekend in both of GSU's matches. Her 58 total blocks also pace the club.
Senior libero Gabby Serafin enters play this weekend as one of the top defensive players in the back court as her 4.86 digs per set tally is fourth-highest in the league. Serafin was named the Sun Belt's Defensive Student-Athlete of the Week earlier this week after recording a pair of 30-dig efforts and averaging 7.11 dps in those two matches.
Georgia State also boasts two of the top servers in the conference. Stinson is currently tied for second with UL Monroe's Bayleigh Hoffman for second in that category with 31 aces and a 0.39 aces per set average. Sydney Mauer is fourth in the SBC in serving with 26 aces and a 0.38 aces per set average. As a team, the Panthers are third in the league in serving (1.38).
Appalachian State enters play this weekend currently tied with Arkansas State and setting atop the Sun Belt Conference standings. The Mountaineers are 17-4 overall and 10-0 in conference play. Entering play this week, the Mountaineers have won their last 13 matches and 14 of their last 15 matches, including a four-set victory at Georgia State last weekend.
App State will host UL Lafayette on Friday night before welcoming the Jaguars.
Offensively, ASU has the top two weapons in the Sun Belt in Jess Keller and Emily Corrigan, who ranks first and second in kills, respectively. Keller is averaging 4.54 per set and Corrigan is just under four kills per set at 3.69. Both players are averaging over four kills per set in league play. Keller is 15th in kills per set and 33rd in total kills (354) in the latest NCAA rankings.
Corrigan has twice been named the offensive player of the week this season and Keller is the league's reigning offensive student-athlete of the week after posting 44 kills, a 6.29 kills per set and hitting .299 in her two matches.
Also ranking in the top 10 in kills in the league is junior middle blocker Ashton Gregory with 3.06 kps. Gregory also leads the conference in hitting percentage (.358). Fellow middle blocker Cassidy Stephenson sits fifth in the league with a .339 percentage.
Senior setter Paige Brown, the preseason Setter of the Year, has lived up to those accolades as she leads the SBC and ranks fifth in the NCAA with 11.82 assists per set. Brown has been named the SBC Setter Student-Athlete of the Week six times this season, including earlier this week.
Libero Meghan Mahoney is sixth in the league in digs per set with 4.71.
App State continues to pace the conference in hitting percentage (.289), assists per set (13.64), kills per set (14.60) and digs per set (15.88). As a team, the Mountaineers are currently sixth nationally in hitting percentage and kills per set and seventh in assists per set.
Appalachian State has been strong in the Holmes Center as they have won 22 of its last 25 matches in the arena dating back to the 2014 season.
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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