Box Score (PDF)

STATESBORO, Ga. – The University of South Alabama volleyball team defeated Georgia Southern in straight sets (25-22, 25-20, 25-18) Saturday in a Sun Belt Conference East Division match at Hanner Fieldhouse.

USA (10-11, 4-4 Sun Belt) will return to action Fri., Oct. 19, when it hosts Texas State at 6:30 p.m. in a Sun Belt Conference match at Jag Gym.
 
GAME FACTS
- After Georgia Southern scored the first point of the match, South Alabama went on a 5-0 scoring run, highlighted by kills from Kelley Hartman and Meaghan Jones, and a service ace by Ashlyn Roberts, to take a 5-1 lead. Georgia Southern went on a 4-0 run midway through the set, aided by a pair of Jaguar attack errors, to cut the USA lead to 13-11. The Eagles then went on a 4-0 run to cut the Jaguar advantage to 15-15. USA earned set point at 24-21 on an Eagle attack error, and clinched the set 25-22 on a kill from Alexis Silver to take a 1-0 lead in the match. 
- The Jags used a 3-0 run midway through set two, highlighted by a pair of service aces from Arissa Chappell, to take a 14-9 lead. USA pushed its lead to 21-16 following a kill by Hannah Harris and block from Hannah Johnson before earning set point at 24-19 on a service ace by Roberts. The Jags clinched the set 25-20 on a kill by Jones to take a 2-0 lead in the match.
- Consecutive service aces by Roberts early in the third set highlighted a 4-0 Jaguar run that gave USA 5-1 advantage. A second 4-0 run later in the set that featured a kill by Johnson and service ace by Rachael DeMarcus doubled the Jag lead to 12-6. South Alabama extended its lead to 20-12 with a 5-0 run, highlighted by a service ace from Iva Durdanovic and a block-assist from Kelley Hartman and Harris. USA earned match point at 24-18 on a kill by Johnson, and clinched the match 25-18 on a kill by Kelley Hartman.

NOTES
- Jones finished with a game-high 11 kills along with a .391 hitting percentage, two digs and three total blocks.
- Harris recorded nine kills, .350 hitting percentage, one dig and two total blocks, while Kelley Hartman added eight kills, a .312 hitting percentage, one assist, three digs and six total blocks.
- DeMarcus finished with a game-high 31 assists, along with one kill, one service ace and eight digs.
- The Jaguars recorded nine total team blocks, while the Eagles finished with six.
- South Alabama finished with 10 service aces, led by Roberts' game-high five. It marked the Jags' highest service-ace total in Sun Belt matches this season, and the most since posting 11 against Wofford on Aug. 31 in Atlanta.

QUOTES
Head Coach Amy Hendrichovsky
- On the match:
"I'm very proud of our team for our response to the adversity we faced over the weekend. I thought Hannah Johnson did a great job of handling her role, and we didn't skip a beat as a team. We improved in both aspects of the game from set one to set three. We had a lot of motivation going into this match and left our previous match with regret, but our girls did a great job of taking care of business."

- On the weekend:
"We played very confident volleyball; no matter the situation, I thought our team was confident and got the job done. We had multiple sets at the end where they applied pressure, and our girls did an excellent job of executing the game of volleyball."

UP NEXT
South Alabama will return to action Fri., Oct. 19, when it hosts Texas State at 6:30 p.m. in Sun Belt Conference action at Jag Gym.

For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with USAJaguars.com, and follow the Jaguars at Twitter.com/USAJaguarSports. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).

Join the Rally Score Club, the volleyball specific support club of the Jaguar Athletic Fund. All donations to the Rally Score Club go directly to support the South Alabama volleyball program. For more information on how you can join visit:  jaguarathleticfund.com/rallyscoreclub.