Date: 8/29
Position: Outside Hitters / Right Side Hitters

Returning Letterwinners at Outside Hitter (Key stats): Iva Durdanovic (131 kills, 1.60 kps, 23 asst, 15 service aces, 151 digs, 1.84 dps, 11 total blocks); Meaghan Jones (236 kills, 2.57 kps, 42 digs, 13 solo blocks, 24 block-assists, 37 total blocks); Hannah Harris (290 kills, 2.69 kps, 14 service aces, 111 digs, 9 solo blocks, 33 block-assists, 42 total blocks)

Letterwinners Lost (Key stats):  None

Newcomers at Outside Hitter (Yr., Previous School):  Hannah Maddux (Fr., Boerne-Samuel V. Champion [Texas] HS)

Returning Letterwinners at Right Side Hitter (Key stats):  Lauren Hartman (110 kills, 1.11 kps, 80 digs, 4 solo blocks, 38 block-assists, 42 total blocks)

Letterwinners Lost (Key stats):  Alexis Silver (38 kills, 1.03 kps, 13 total blocks)

Miscellaneous Notes
- South Alabama ranked fourth in the Sun Belt Conference in hitting percentage (.215) last season, and ninth in kills per set (12.32).
- Meaghan Jones ranked tied for seventh in the Sun Belt in kills per set (2.98) in league matches last year.
- Harris, who appeared in all 30 matches last season, recorded two double-doubles in 2018, including a career-high 19 kills and 11 digs at Arkansas State on Sept. 23, to post her first double-double of the year.
- Jones closed the year with double-digit kill totals in her final six matches, including a career-high 16 against Troy on Nov. 3.
- Harris was named Google Cloud First-Team Academic All-District by CoSida last year.

Head Coach Alexis Meeks-Rydell
- On the depth and experience among the outside hitters:
"I would definitely say that we are the most experienced on the pins this year, and that is exciting from multiple standpoints. Our serve receive has grown tremendously already because of Hannah Harris, Meaghan (Jones) and Iva's (Durdanovic) work in the offseason. We have also grown in our out-of-system offense and have been able to run more of a complex offense because of their abilities to play more than one position. We have a ton of trust in our pins this year and that is a testament to their hard work. 

- On Lauren Hartman at Right Side Hitter:
"Lauren has impressed the heck out of us this fall already. Her mentality and attitude toward her teammates and this program has been something we really needed. What has impressed us the most is her ability to learn new techniques so quickly, and she, more than anyone else, is so great about implementing what we have worked on in practice and translating that into games. She also adds versatility being able to hit on the outside as well."

- On freshman Hannah Maddux's progression this fall:
"(Hannah) Maddux is one of our hardest working kids. She was recruited to be an outside and we saw a huge opportunity for her in the middle this year; this kid has embraced the opportunity with arms wide open. Her growth in just two weeks, not only as a player but as a person, has truly been one of the most exciting transformations I have had in my coaching career. She is so athletic and intelligent that we can't wait for her to keep having what we call "light bulb" moments, because where she is going to take this team in her four years here is going to be something everyone wants to watch."

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