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MOBILE, Ala. – The University of South Alabama volleyball team defeated Troy in straight sets (27-25, 25-20, 25-16) Saturday at Jag Gym.

USA (10-8, 1-4 SBC) earned its first conference win of the season and snapped a five-game losing skid with the victory. Nikki Gittens led the Jaguar attack with 11 kills and a .500 hitting percentage, while Iva Durdanovic finished with eight kills, 12 digs and three of the Jags' eight service aces in the match. Kristina Alabastro finished with seven kills and a .556 hitting percentage. Ashlyn Roberts finished with a team-high 17 assists, while Kellyn Reeves added 15 assists.

The Jaguars opened the match with a 27-25 win in set one. Troy (6-15, 0-5 SBC) built a three-point lead late in the set for a 22-19 advantage, and forced a set point at 24-23 on a kill by Symone Shaw. But USA answered with a kill by Gittens to tie the score 24-24, and took a one-point lead on a service ace by Arissa Chappell for a 25-24 advantage. Troy responded with a kill by Sara Landis, following a Trojan timeout, to tie the score 25-25. But the Jags scored the final two points of the set on a Troy attack error and set-clinching kill by Alabastro.

South Alabama took a 2-0 lead in the match with a 25-20 win in set two. The Trojans built a 4-1 lead early in the set, but the Jaguars answered with five straight points, highlighted by a pair of service aces by Durdanovic and kills by Gittens, Mechell Daniel and Kelley Hartman, to take a 6-4 lead. Later in the set, USA built a seven-point lead at 23-16 following four consecutive points, highlighted by kills from Durdanovic and Alabastro. A kill by Alabstro gave the Jags set point at 24-17, but Troy answered with three straight points to cut the Jag lead to 24-20. Gittens followed with a kill to clinch the set for South Alabama.

USA took set three 25-15 to clinch the match. The Jags doubled their lead to 12-6 midway through the match following a three-point rally that featured kills by Alabastro and Gittens. The Trojans cut the Jaguar lead to one point, 14-13, after scoring four straight points. USA responded with three consecutive points, highlighted by kills from Richardson and Daniel, to take a 17-13 lead. South Alabama went on to score the final six points of the set, which featured a kill by Gittens and four Trojan attack errors, to clinch the set and match.

"It feels good to get the win. I am proud of our team," USA head coach Amy Hendrichovsky said. "We really focused this week on getting back to our type of volleyball. I think they had a lot of fun today, and it was fun to watch. That's what we wanted to see. We played with passion, and I think the execution comes when you play with that. We mixed some people up on the court based on this week's performance, and the luxury of our team is we're able to do that. We compete every week in practice, and as a program we were really competitive the last two days of practice and that made us better."

USA will return to action Fri., Oct. 14, when it hosts Georgia State in a Sun Belt Conference contest at 6:30 p.m. at Jag Gym.

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).