Box Score (PDF)

MOBILE, Ala. – The University of South Alabama volleyball team defeated UTA in four sets (20-25, 25-16, 25-21, 27-25) Saturday in a Sun Belt Conference match at Jag Gym. 

USA (11-12, 5-5 Sun Belt) will return to action Fri., Oct. 26, when it travels to Boone, N.C., for a Sun Belt Conference East Division match with Appalachian State at 5:30 p.m. (CT).

GAME FACTS
- The Jaguars held a 12-10 lead midway through the opening set before UTA went on a 4-0 scoring run, aided by a pair of Jaguar errors, to take a 14-12 lead. A second 4-0 Maverick run pushed the UTA advantage to 18-13. USA used a 3-0 run, highlighted by kills from Meaghan Jones and Iva Durdanovic, cut the UTA lead to 19-17. The Mavericks earned set point at 24-19 on a Jaguar attack error, and clinched the set 25-20 on a bad Jaguar set. 
- UTA held a 5-3 lead early in the second set, but the Jaguars went on 4-0 that featured a pair of kills by Jones to take a 7-5 lead. South Alabama used a 4-0 run to take a 13-7 lead after kills from Kelley Hartman and Alexis Silver, a service ace by Ashlyn Roberts and a UTA service error. The Jags doubled their lead to 20-10 with a 3-0 run that featured a kill by Jones and service ace from Kelley Hartman. USA earned set point at 24-15 then clinched the set 25-16 on a pair of kills by Hartman to tie the match at one set apiece.
- The Mavericks faced a four-point deficit midway through the third set before a 3-0 run cut the Jaguar lead to one point at 17-16. South Alabama closed the set by scoring four of the final five points, earning set point at 24-21 on a kill by Arissa Chappell and clinching the set 25-21 on a service ace by Durdanovic.
- UTA took a 9-5 lead early in the fourth set after a 4-0 run that was aided by a pair of Jaguar errors. South Alabama tied the score at 13-13 following a kill by Durdanovic, but the Mavericks responded with an 8-0 scoring run to take a 21-13 lead. The Jaguars soon answered with a 7-0 run, highlighted by three service aces by Roberts, to tie the score at 22-22. USA earned match point at 25-24, but UTA responded with a kill from Kylie Jedlicka to tie the score at 25. A kill by Jones gave the Jags match point at 26-25, and a block-assist from Jones and Hannah Johnson clinched the match. 

NOTES
- USA posted a .464 team hitting percentage in set two with 16 kills and three attack errors on 28 total attacks.
- Rachael DeMarcus recorded her first career double-double, finishing with a game-high 41 assists and 10 digs in addition to four kills, one service ace and two block-assists.
- Durdanovic recorded a team-high 13 kills, along with a .300 hitting percentage, one service ace and nine digs.
- Kelley Hartman finished with 12 kills, .500 hitting percentage, one service ace, five digs and three block-assists, while Jones added 12 kills, two digs and two block-assists.
- UTA's Madison Hill recorded a game-high 15 kills and .565 hitting percentage, along with two digs and three block-assists. 

QUOTES
Head Coach Amy Hendrichovsky
- On the win:
"That was a great win. They (UTA) have been playing well, and they played a really nice match last night so I knew coming in to today that we had to play really well in order to pick up the win. Ultimately, it was a team win; we used a lot of people off the bench. We try to manage the team the best we can, and we ultimately wanted it. That's what we've been talking about – we have to want it more than the other team."

- On the difference between last night's match and tonight:
"We executed better on first-contact. Our execution wasn't as crisp yesterday; our effort was there, but we didn't execute. We executed much better tonight. We had a conversation today going into this match, and I thought all of our passers responded. We're a pretty good passing team, so it was unlikely for us to have that last night unfortunately. But I was happy with our response today."

UP NEXT
South Alabama will return to action Fri., Oct. 26, when it travels to Boone, N.C., for a Sun Belt Conference East Division match with Appalachian State at 5:30 p.m. (CT).

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.