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MOBILE, Ala. – The University of South Alabama volleyball team defeated Mississippi Valley State in straight sets (25-9, 25-16, 25-11) Saturday at Jag Gym to clinch the Jaguar Invitational.

Senior right side hitter Lauren Hartman was named the tournament's most valuable player, while Kelley Hartman and Ashlyn Roberts were named to the Jaguar Invitational All-Tournament Team. South Alabama (3-3) will return to action Tue., Sept. 10, when it hosts Alcorn State at 6:30 p.m. at Jag Gym.
 
GAME FACTS
- The Jags opened the match with a 5-0 run in the first set, highlighted by a pair of kills from Kelley Hartman. USA used a 4-0 run later in the set to increase its lead to 15-6. A 6-0 South Alabama run late in the set, which featured a pair of kills from Hannah Harris, pushed the Jag lead to 21-7. USA earned set point at 24-9 on a kill by Harris, and clinched the set 25-9 on an MVSU attack error.
- MVSU cut the Jaguar lead to three at 18-15 late in the second set, but USA went on a 7-1 run to close the set. The Jags earned set point at 24-16 on a kill by Hannah Maddux, and clinched the set 25-16 on a bad MVSU set for a 2-0 lead in the match.
- MVSU cut the USA lead to 9-6 early in the third set, but the Jaguars went on a 6-0 run, highlighted by kills from Hannah Maddux, Hannah Harris and Roberts, for a 15-6 advantage. South Alabama went on a 5-1 run to end the match, earning match point at 24-11 on a kill by Meaghan Jones, and clinched the match on an MVSU attack error.

NOTES
- USA posted a .319 team hitting percentage in the match, while MVSU finished with a -.167 team hitting percentage.
- The Jaguars finished with nine total team blocks, while MVSU recorded four team blocks.
- The win extended South Alabama's win streak to three matches.
- Harris led the Jags with eight kills, along with a .375 hitting percentage, four service aces and three digs.
- Hannah Johnson recorded five kills, a .444 hitting percentage, one dig and three total blocks.
- Lillie Fromdahl finished with a game-high 18 assists, along with three digs and one block.
- Roberts recorded a game-high 16 digs, in addition to one kill and one service ace.

QUOTES
Head Coach Alexis Meeks-Rydell
- On winning the Jaguar Invitational:
"I knew it was going to be a good weekend in practice this week. We set little goals on Monday of what we wanted to get better at, and that was offense, and we worked a lot on defense Tuesday. Those are probably the two hardest practices that we have had all year. I wanted to see how they responded from last weekend, and I saw that they came in on Monday and responded well and worked maybe even a little bit harder than I have seen them work before; I knew what happened last weekend registered with them. And to see them come out this weekend and implement everything, but just have a different mentality toward the fact that we're going to have to work a lot harder to get wins this year than what I think they had to do in the past. I don't think this tournament could have been any better. All of the teams were great competition for us. Yesterday's matches prepared us for today, and I am hoping we can carry that into next week as well."

- On the positives from the weekend she wants to see carried into next week:
"Besides consistency, just continuing to play our game, we have to get better at the service line and we have way too many errors. Our errors aren't coming from aggressiveness, I think we're still trying to play a little too safe. I'm okay with us missing serves as long as they are aggressive. I think where we improved most from last weekend was defensively, and we need to continue to do that. We're a bigger team and we have a good front line, but how are we going to be able to translate that behind them as well. And our offense definitely picked up this weekend too; I think Rachael (DeMarcus) helps with that a little bit, but then Lillie (Fromdahl) came out here and did just as well. I'm thankful we have two setters who work super hard and are both about equal when it comes to consistency in the offense. Last weekend we relied really heavily on Kelley (Hartman), and a big goal of ours was to find other players who can also carry the load like Kelley. And this weekend Kelley performed very well, but so did Lauren (Hartman), Hannah Harris and Iva (Durdanovic). We had our offense working on multiple cylinders, and I think that is ultimately why we won because now everyone wasn't focused just on Kelley; everybody is focused on everyone we have as an option, and that makes a huge difference."

UP NEXT
South Alabama (3-3) will return to action Tue., Sept. 10, when it hosts Alcorn State 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.