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MOBILE, Ala. – The University of South Alabama volleyball team swept a pair of matches to open the South Alabama Invitational, presented by Hampton Inn, Friday at Jag Gym.

USA (7-5) defeated Louisiana Tech in straight sets, and also swept Bethune-Cookman to extend its home win streak to six matches.

South Alabama will return to action Saturday when it hosts Nicholls State at 4:30 p.m. at Jag Gym to close the South Alabama Invitational.
 
South Alabama 3, Louisiana Tech 0 (25-21, 25-18, 25-20)
GAME FACTS
- USA doubled its lead at 10-5 early in the opening set, aided by a 3-0 scoring run that featured kills by Meaghan Jones and Lillie Fromdahl. Later in the set, consecutive Lady Techster errors extended the Jaguar lead to 18-11. South Alabama earned set point at 24-21 on a kill by Iva Durdanovic, and clinched the set 25-21 on a Lady Techster attack error to take a 1-0 lead in the match.
-  The Jags used a 3-0 scoring run early in set two, highlighted by kills from Hannah Johnson and Durdanovic, to double their lead at 8-4. A kill by Jones and service ace from Ashlyn Roberts highlighted a 4-0 Jaguar scoring run that pushed the USA lead to 13-8. The Lady Techsters went on a 4-0 run later in the set to cut their deficit to three at 17-14. South Alabama earned set point later in the set at 24-16 on a kill by Jones, and clinched the set 25-18 on a Lady Techster attack error to take a 2-0 lead in the match.
- USA doubled its lead at 10-5 early in the third set following a Louisiana Tech attack error. The Jags extended their lead to 18-11 later in the third set with a 4-0 scoring run that featured a kill and consecutive service aces from Jones. South Alabama earned match point at 24-15 on a kill by Kelley Hartman, and clinched the match 25-20 on a kill by Hartman.

NOTES
- Jones finished with a game-high 12 kills, along with a .346 hitting percentage, two service aces and five digs.
- Kelley Hartman recorded 11 kills, .400 hitting percentage, four assists, four digs and one solo block.
- Durdanovic posted seven kills, 11 digs, one assist and one service ace, while Hannah Harris finished with six kills, two assists, one service ace and two digs.
- Roberts finished with a team-high 13 digs, along with one kill, one assist and one service ace.
- Fromdahl recorded a game-high 34 assists, in addition to six digs and two kills. 
- The Jaguars finished with a .273 hitting percentage, while the Lady Techsters finished with a .094 team hitting percentage. USA posted a .400 hitting percentage in the final set of the match. 
- Louisiana Tech recorded 10 total team blocks while South Alabama finished with one team block.

South Alabama 3, Bethune-Cookman 0 (25-11, 25-13, 25-20) 
GAME FACTS
- South Alabama scored five of the first six points of the opening set, highlighted by a pair of kills from Hartman and a service ace by Harris, to take a 5-1 lead. The Jags used a 3-0 run midway through the set, which featured a kill and service ace by Durdanovic, to build a 13-6 lead. USA then went on a 5-0 run to push its lead to 18-8. The Jags earned set point at 24-9 on a Wildcat error, and clinched the set 25-11 on a kill by Hannah Johnson.
- USA faced a one-point deficit early in set two, but went on a 7-0 scoring run, which featured a pair of kills by Jones and a service ace from Hartman, to build a 10-4 advantage. A 4-0 Jaguar run that included three straight kills from Durdanovic, extended the USA lead to 17-7. The Jags earned set point at 24-12 on a kill by Jones, and clinched the set 25-13 on a kill by Jones.
- South Alabama went on a 4-0 scoring run early in set three, highlighted by a pair of kills from Jones and a service ace by Hartman, to take a 9-2 lead. A kill by Hannah Maddux midway through the third set doubled the Jaguar lead at 16-8. South Alabama earned match point at 24-20 on a kill by Hartman, and clinched the match 25-20 on a service ace by Hannah Maddux.

NOTES
- Jones finished with a career-high 17 kills, .353 hitting percentage and five digs.
- Hartman recorded 11 kills, .375 hitting percentage, two service aces and six digs.
- Durdanovic tied her career high in digs with 17, and also added six kills on seven total attacks, one assist and one service ace.
- Maddux's service ace to clinch the match was the first of her career. 
- Roberts recorded 10 digs, marking the ninth straight match she has finished with 10 or more digs.

QUOTES
Head Coach Alexis Meeks-Rydell
- On two wins to open the tournament:
"It's nice any time you can sweep, but we did struggle early this morning. Louisiana Tech and Bethune-Cookman both have really good programs, and I felt like we were lacking a little bit of trust early. We were having too many communication errors on serve-receive, and I didn't feel like we were hustling offensively as much as we could have. We talked after the first match about how we're never going to reach our full potential until there is full trust from all six people on the court. And we talked about playing with joy and trusting our teammates, and the outcome will then take care of itself. I think that showed in that last match. Starting from warmups in the second match, I just felt a shift in energy and communication. To end on that after the struggles we had this morning was good, and that's what I'm proud of most."

- On the six-match home win streak:
"Before the season even started, we talked about how important it is that we are not going to lose at home. If we're going to host two tournaments then we're going to win every match, regardless of who comes in the gym. And we're talking about that going into (Sun Belt) conference (play) too. You have to utilize the fact that you are on the court that you play on every single day. Winning on the road is tough, it doesn't matter who you play. You have to make sure when you are at home that you take care of business so at the end of the day you can reach the goals you have set; we just keep harping on that."

UP NEXT
South Alabama will return to action Saturday when it hosts Nicholls State at 4:30 p.m. at Jag Gym to close the South Alabama 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.