Match 28: Sun Belt Conference Championships - vs. No. 3 Seed Texas State Match Notes (.pdf)Sun Belt Championship CentralLive StatsVideoMOBILE, Ala. – The University of South Alabama volleyball team, seeded sixth in this year's Sun Belt Conference Championships, will open up tournament action on Friday afternoon when it takes on third-seeded Texas State in the opening round. First serve versus the Bobcats is set for 1:30 p.m. (CT) at Hanner Fieldhouse.
Georgia Southern will serve as this season's tournament host, set to be held Nov. 20-22. The winner of the eight-teams tournament will earn a berth into the 2015 NCAA Women's Volleyball Championship.
Tickets can be purchased at GSEagles.com/SBCVBall. Passes for the entire tournament are available for $25 for adults and $10 for youth 12-and-under. Single-day passes can be purchased for $10 (adults) or $5 (youth), and students at all Sun Belt Conference schools gain free admission.
Live stats and web streaming for all of South Alabama's matches in the league tournament can be accessed at www.USAJaguars.com. Fans can also keep up with in-match updates by following action on the program's twitter account @USA_Jags_VB.
South Alabama and Texas State split their two meetings this season with each winning on its home court. USA earned a five-set win back on Nov. 24 in Mobile, while the Bobcats defeated the Jags 3-1 in San Marcos on the final weekend of the regular season. This will be the first postseason meeting between the two teams.
South Alabama (13-14, 7-9 SBC) comes into the postseason looking to snap a five-match losing streak after falling 3-0 at UT Arlington on Sunday.
USA has struggled offensively during the second half of conference play, not hitting over .200 in any of the Jags' last seven matches and in eight of their last nine. The Jaguars were held to a season-low .047 hitting percentage in the four-set loss to the Bobcats in the last meeting on Friday.
Over the last seven matches, South Alabama is hitting .140, and is averaging just 10.54 kills per set during that same stretch.
"We haven't finished the conference season quite as we hoped, but overall we have had some great moments this season," South Alabama head coach Amy Hendrichovsky. "At this point, we start another season where everyone is 0-0. Our team needs be focused on bringing their game and putting together a complete team effort. When we have six athletes individually do their job, we have great success. There are certain elements that this team needs to bring to the floor to be successful and this week in practice we are finding that within us again."
South Alabama will be making its 19th overall appearance in the Sun Belt Championships this season and also for the third-straight year. This is the first time the program has made three consecutive appearances in the conference tournament since the 2001 season.
Mechell Daniel continues to lead South Alabama offensively as she ranks third in the conference offensively with 385 kills and a 3.60 kills per set average. Daniel leads the team with 12 double-doubles this season with nine of those coming in conference play. Over the last 16 matches, the junior opposite side hitter has averaged 3.78 kills and 3.00 digs per set.
Middle blocker Nikki Gittens is second on the club offensively, averaging 2.23 kills per set leads the team with a .266 hitting percentage. Gittens and fellow middle blocker Sarah Richardson have been outstanding at the net defensively for the Jaguars this season. Richardson and Gittens have combined for 209 total blocks. Gittens holds a slim lead with 106 total blocks (0.99 per set). Richardson has 103 total blocks - 11 solo - and is averaging 0.98 blocks per set.
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 4.09, which ranks eighth in the conference. In Sun Belt play, Hundt is averaging 4.73 per set. As a team, USA is averaging 16.63 dps in league action.
As a team, South Alabama is tied for third with Georgia Southern in digs (15.73) and blocks (2.20).
Texas State comes into postseason play after earning the third seed in this years' Sun Belt Conference Championships with a 18-11 overall record and a 13-3 SBC mark.
The Bobcats also enter the league tourney as one of the hottest teams in the SBC, closing out the regular season with five-straight wins and six of their last seven matches. In their last five matches, Texas State has dropped just one of the 16 sets it has played. Prior to its second-set loss to the Jags on Friday, TSU had won 16 consecutive sets played.
The only team to defeat Texas State over the last seven matches was South Alabama back on Oct. 24.
Sophomore opposite side hitter Jordan Kohl continues to lead the club with 271 kills and a 2.79 kills per set average. She is hitting .237 this season and is third on the club with 56 total blocks. Shelby Vas Matt and Kelsey Weynand are averaging 2.42 and 2.34 kills per set, respectively.
Madison Daigle has been solid as of late for the Bobcats as she has been named the league's freshman of the week two of the last three weeks. Daigle is averaging just under two kills per set and hitting a team-best .311, while also ranking second on the team in 62 blocks (0.79). Daigle is fifth in the SBC in hitting percentage.
Junior middle blocker Morgan Lewis leads the club defensively at the net with 102 blocks and a 1.02 bps average, which ranks sixth in the Sun Belt.
In the back court, Sierra Smith's 4.29 digs per set are seventh-best in the league.
Bobcat setter Erin Hoppe leads the Sun Belt in serving with 35 aces and 0.37 aces per set average. As a team, Texas State is second in the conference from behind the service line with 1.41 aces per set. The Bobcats are also third in the league in both kills (12.74) and assists (11.81) and fourth in hitting (.210).
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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