Match 13: at Georgia Southern Match Notes (.pdf)MOBILE, Ala. – The University of South Alabama volleyball team will close travel to Statesboro, Ga., for its first Sun Belt Conference road match when the Jaguars take on Georgia Southern on Saturday night at Hanner Fieldhouse. First serve versus the Eagles set for 5:30 p.m. (CT).
The road environment won't be anything new for USA as the club's first seven matches of the season came away from Mobile.
"We are excited to get on the road and play this weekend," South Alabama head coach Amy Hendrichovsky said. "We enjoyed our six matches at home the past two weeks. However, anytime you travel, it is an opportunity to build great memories together and enjoy our time as a team. We have played well in our two "true" road matches versus Belmont and Boston College. We expect to play well this weekend and improve from our match Tuesday night regardless of whether we are home or away."
Live stats and web streaming for the match 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 (6-6, 0-2 SBC) enters Saturday's match versus the Eagles in search of its first conference win of the season. Last weekend, USA fell at home to both Arkansas State and Appalachian State during the opening weekend of league play.
"Going into this weekend, we are looking for our team to learn from what we have discussed this last week and put it into action on the court," Hendrichovsky said. "Discussing it is one thing, but being focused and having the intent on giving to the team what it needs to be successful shows we are learning from our past experiences. We didn't see it at the start of the match against Alabama State and would like to see it happen this weekend."
The Jaguars are coming off a 3-1 victory over Alabama State in Mobile on Tuesday night. South Alabama got off to a slow start in the opening set, but bounced back to record a .336 hitting percentage and place three players in double figures offensively in the win.
Mechell Daniel led the way for the Jags, recording her fourth double-double of the season, finishing the match with 15 kills and 13 digs. Daniel leads the club and ranks sixth in the Sun Belt in kills with 3.36 kills per set. She is hitting .257 and as 89 digs and 21 total blocks.
Redshirt junior Nikki Gittens - who had a career-high 14 kills versus the Hornets - is second on the club with 105 kills and a 2.23 kps average. Gittens posted a .583 hitting percentage against Alabama State in her last outing and is hitting .306 this season. Gittens also ranks second on the Jaguar roster at the net with 40 total blocks.
Fellow middle blocker Sarah Richardson continues her outstanding junior season. The Germantown, Tenn., native currently leads the SBC in hitting percentage at .406. Richardson's 43 blocks also leads South Alabama.
True freshman Arissa Chappell is coming off a five service ace performance. Chappell paces the Jaguars with 20 aces this season and her 0.43 aces per set average is third-highest in the conference. As a team, South Alabama is fourth in the Sun Belt in serving with 1.38 aces per set.
Georgia Southern enters play this week with a 5-8 overall mark and like the Jaguars is still in search of its first conference win. GSU will host Florida Gulf Coast on Friday night before welcoming South Alabama to Hanner Fieldhouse.
The Eagles opened up league action with a straight-set loss to Little Rock last Friday and a five-set loss to UL Monroe on Saturday. Versus the Warhawks, GSU led 2-1 in the match, but dropped each of the last two sets by two points each.
GSU is led offensively by the trio of Megan Chevalier, Stephanie Spencer and Ashley Jones who are all averaging two kills per set or better. Chevalier leads the way at 2.91 per set, while Spencer is averaging 2.83 and Jones is averaging 2.00.
Chevalier registered 21 kills against ULM to go along with 11 digs.
Katie Bange and Alex Beecher each had 20-plus digs versus the Warhawks. Beecher led the way with 27, while Bange added 22.
Beecher leads the Sun Belt in digs with 5.43 per set and also ranks seventh in the conference in serving with 0.37 aces per set. Beecher ranked 10th nationally in digs entering play this week.
As a team, Georgia Southern is fourth in the Sun Belt in both opponents' hitting percentage (.175) and digs (15.04).
At the net, freshman middle blocker Lauren Reichard's 1.11 blocks per set average is second-best in the league. She has 52 total blocks this 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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