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FORT WAYNE, Ind. – The University of South Alabama volleyball team dropped a pair of matches on day one of the Purdue-Fort Wayne Invitational at Gates Sports Center.

USA fell to Western Michigan in three sets in the season opener, and dropped an afternoon match to Northern Kentucky in four sets. 

South Alabama (0-2) will return to action Saturday when it faces Purdue-Fort Wayne at 10 a.m. (CT) to close the Purdue-Fort Wayne Invitational.
 
Western Michigan 3, South Alabama 0 (11-25, 14-25, 16-25)
GAME FACTS
- Western Michigan took the opening set 25-11, aided by a .433 team hitting percentage, and finished the match with a .394 team hitting percentage. 
- South Alabama posted a -.037 team hitting percentage in set one, and finished with a team percentage of .141. USA's highest hitting percentage (.259) in the match came in the third set.
- The Jaguars did not record a service ace in the match, while WMU finished with eight service aces.

NOTES
- Kelley Hartman moved into ninth in career blocks (287) with a pair of blocks in the opening match.
- Hannah Harris led the Jaguars in kills (7) and hitting percentage (.312), followed by Kelley Hartman with six kills and a .294 hitting percentage.
- Freshman Lillie Fromdahl posted 22 assists and one dig in her first collegiate match.
- Ashlyn Roberts led the Jaguars with 13 digs, and also added one assist.
- WMU's Mary Marzo recorded a double-double, finishing with 16 assists and 10 digs, while Rachel Bontrager posted a game-high 14 kills along with a .357 hitting percentage.

Northern Kentucky 3, South Alabama 1 (19-25, 18-25, 25-18, 19-25)
GAME FACTS
- NKU recorded a .407 team hitting percentage in the opening set, while the Jaguars finished set one with a .118 hitting percentage. 
-  The Norse jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the match before the Jaguars responded with a 25-18 win in set three, which marked their lone set win of the match.
- Northern Kentucky recorded a .053 team hitting percentage in the third set with 10 kills and eight errors on 38 total attacks.

NOTES
- Fromdahl recorded a career- and game-high 30 assists, and also added three kills, one service ace, six digs and two block-assists.
- Jones and Kelley Hartman recorded 11 kills apiece to share the team lead. Jones also added eight digs and two total blocks, while Hartman added one service ace, five digs and five total blocks, including three solo blocks.
- Roberts finished with a team-high 17 digs, and also added five assists and one service ace.
- NKU's Laura Crawford posted a double-double, and led all players with 18 kills while also recording 15 digs.
- NKU finished with 12 total team blocks while the Jags recorded 10 team blocks.

QUOTES
Head Coach Alexis Meeks-Rydell
- On the day's matches:
"Regardless of what the results were today, we needed today. These teams are very good; they have ball control, great blocking and they are very consistent from start to finish. With what we are trying implement here, I am glad that we got to play against two team that had characteristics that we are trying to reach. We saw some very good things from our girls today, and glimpses of greatness and areas of struggles. We have to work on being more consistent on our side and doing a better job of trusting the process of where we are headed. We learned a lot of from today, and get another shot at implementing some things against another very good Midwest team tomorrow. We know we are going to get to where we need to be, and the best part about today is we consistently got better throughout the day, and that's all I can ask for as we continue through the season.

UP NEXT
South Alabama will return to action Saturday when it faces Purdue-Fort Wayne at 10 a.m. (CT) to close the Purdue-Fort Wayne Invitational.

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.