Box Score

MOBILE, Ala. – The University of South Alabama volleyball team defeated Little Rock in four sets (25-21-25-15, 22-25, 25-19) Saturday in Sun Belt Conference action at Jag Gym.

USA (10-5, 2-0 Sun Belt) extended its win streak to six matches, and remained perfect at home this season, extending its home win streak to nine matches. The win also marked the Jaguars' first over Little Rock since 2017.

South Alabama will return to action Fri., Oct. 4, when it travels to Atlanta for a Sun Belt Conference East Division match with Georgia State at 5:30 p.m. (CT) at GSU Sports Arena. 
 
GAME FACTS
- Little Rock held an 11-10 lead midway through the opening set before the Jaguars went on a 5-0 scoring run, highlighted by a pair of kills from Meaghan Jones and a kill by Kelley Hartman, for a 15-12 USA advantage. South Alabama earned set point at 24-20 on a Trojan ball-handling error, and clinched the set 25-21 on a kill by Meaghan Jones to take a 1-0 lead in the match.
- The Jaguars opened up set two with a 4-0 scoring run that featured a service ace by Iva Durdanovic and kill by Hartman. A 3-0 Jag run that included a kill by Jones and block-assist by Jones and Hannah Johnson, extended the USA lead to 10-3. South Alabama doubled its lead at 16-8 following a 3-0 run that featured kills by Johnson and Hannah Harris. USA later earned set point at 24-13 on a Trojan attack error, and clinched the set 25-15 on a kill by Johnson for a 2-0 lead in the match.
- South Alabama took a 15-10 lead midway through set three after a 4-0 scoring run that was aided by a trio of ASU errors. Little Rock used a 4-0 run to cut the Jaguar lead to one at 17-16, then went on a 4-0 run to take a 20-18 lead following consecutive USA attack errors and a kill by Alyssa Nayar. The Trojans earned set point at 24-21 on a kill by Laura Jansen, and clinched the set 25-22 on a kill by Jansen to cut the Jaguar lead in the match to 2-1.
- The Trojans tied the score at 5-5 early in set four before a 3-0 Jaguar run that featured a kill by Jones to give the Jaguars an 8-5 lead. USA used a 4-0 run later in the set, highlighted by a kill and service ace from Harris and a service ace by Paige Lynn, to take a 17-10 lead. South Alabama later earned match point at 24-18 on a Trojan ball-handling error, and clinched the match 25-19 on a kill by Hartman.

NOTES
- Jones finished with a team-high 16 kills, .342 hitting percentage, nine digs and two block-assists.
- Harris added 12 kills, two service aces, seven digs and two block-assists.
- Rachael DeMarcus finished with a game-high 33 assists, and also added five digs and one kill.
- Ashlyn Roberts led the Jags with 12 digs, and also recorded one kill, one assist and two service aces.
- Hartman posted nine kills, three assists, three digs and five block-assists.
- The Jaguars recorded eight total team blocks in the match.
- USA is off to its best start in Sun Belt Conference play at 2-0 since the 2017 season when the Jags won their first nine league matches.

QUOTES
Head Coach Alexis Meeks-Rydell
- On the win:
"I knew it was going to be a tough match today, because we were on a high from yesterday. This was a really good challenge for us to see how we could respond from being on a high and playing another team that has historically beat up on our program. It was shaky; everyone that was here knows we didn't play our best today, but I am super proud of the team for bouncing back, starting off hot and finding a way to just grind through the ugly after losing set three. Sometimes that's volleyball. It is going to be ugly sometimes, but we need good wins and ugly wins to kind of prove where we are at. I couldn't be more proud of them."

- On opening the road portion of Sun Belt schedule next week:
"I think the team is pretty hungry to get on the road. We just talked about last week how we're doing really well in our own gym, but if we want to reach our full potential then we have to find a way to succeed on the road and we haven't done that yet. I think it's going to be a really good challenge for us, and I have a few ideas to help with that this week in practice to get us out of our comfort zone. We have a good opportunity to continue to be successful, but we're going up against two good programs. Georgia State is doing really well right now, and Georgia Southern has a good coaching staff. I think we're ready, we just need to have a good week of preparation."

UP NEXT
South Alabama will return to action Fri., Oct. 4, when it travels to Atlanta for a Sun Belt Conference East Division match with Georgia State at 5:30 p.m. (CT) at GSU Sports Arena.

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.