Box Score (PDF)

MOBILE, Ala. – The University of South Alabama volleyball team fell to Georgia Southern in five sets (25-15, 19-25, 25-14, 15-25, 14-16) Friday in Sun Belt Conference action at Jag Gym.

USA (6-10, 0-3 Sun Belt) will return to action Saturday when it hosts Georgia State in a Sun Belt Conference match at 6:30 p.m. at Jag Gym.
 
GAME FACTS
- South Alabama went on a 6-0 scoring run early in the opening set, highlighted by a kill by Morgan Stalcup, service ace from Kelly Hartman and a block-assist by Stalcup and Hannah Harris, to build an 8-2 lead. The Jaguars later used a 5-0 run that featured a kill by Iva Durdanovic and a service ace from Ashlyn Roberts for a 23-14 advantage. USA earned set point at 24-15 on a kill by Kelley Hartman with an assist from Rachael DeMarcus, and clinched the set 25-15 on a block-assist by Durdanovic and Kelley Hartman.
- South Alabama went on a 4-0 run midway through the second set, highlighted by a kill from Kelley Hartman and service ace by Parker Harrell, to take an 11-10 lead. But the Eagles answered with a 3-0 run for a 13-11 advantage. A 4-0 Eagle scoring run later in the set pushed the Georgia Southern lead to 21-15. The Eagles earned set point at 24-19 on a kill by Carly Turner, and clinched the set 25-19 on a kill by Maddie Bryant to even the match at one set apiece.
- USA used a 6-1 scoring run early in the third set, highlighted by kills from Durdanovic and Harris, block-assist from Harris and Stalcup and a service ace by Kelley Hartman to take an 11-4 lead. The Jags went on a 3-0 run later in the set after kills from DeMarcus, Stalcup and Durdanovic to build a 22-13 advantage. South Alabama earned set point at 24-13 on a bad set by Georgia Southern's Madison Brown, and clinched the set 25-14 on an Eagle service error to take a 2-1 lead in the match.
- The Eagles went on a 6-0 scoring run midway through the fourth set, highlighted by three kills from Bryant, to take a 15-10 lead. Georgia Southern earned set point at 24-15 on a Jaguar service error, and clinched the set 25-15 on a kill by Skylar Ball to even the match at two sets apiece.
- USA held a 10-6 lead in the fifth set before a 4-0 Georgia Southern run tied the score at 10-10. USA later tied the score at 14-14 on a kill by Harris, but the Eagles answered with a kill by Carly Turner to earn match point at 15-14 and clinched the match 16-14 on a service ace by Lauren Reichard.

NOTES
- Harris finished with a team-high 14 kills to lead the Jags, along with eight digs and two block-assists.
- Durdanovic recorded nine kills, three service aces, three digs and two blocks assists, while Kelley Hartman finished with nine kills, one assist, three service aces, three digs and six block-assists.
- DeMarcus finished with a team-high 26 assists, and also added one kill and three digs. Harrell recorded 15 assists, six digs, one kill and one service ace.
- The Jags finished with 10 total team blocks, while the Eagles posted nine team blocks.
- South Alabama recorded a .560 team hitting percentage in the third set with 15 kills and one error on 25 total attacks.
- Georgia Southern's Bryant finished with a game-high 21 kills, while Madison Brown recorded a game-high 54 assists.
- The loss extended South Alabama's losing skid to four matches.

QUOTES
Head Coach Amy Hendrichovsky
- On the match:
"It just comes down to execution, and we executed for two sets – plain and simple. We didn't execute the game plan for the other three sets. We started the fifth set executing what we discussed, but we just lost focus on our execution and the little things. We have to get better, and we're going to have to work through it. It comes down to us executing our game."

- On what she is looking for in tomorrow's match:
"I want to see better focus on our execution, and better intentional effort on getting the job done. We started the first and third sets great, and started the fifth set great. We played aggressive in the fifth set, and just had a few focus errors but we were aggressive so we just have to keep moving forward."

UP NEXT
South Alabama will return to action Saturday when it hosts Georgia State in a Sun Belt Conference match at 6:30 p.m. 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.