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Box Score

FOLEY, Ala. – The University of South Alabama volleyball team fell in straight sets (13-25, 20-25, 18-25) to Texas State in the Sun Belt Conference Championship at the Foley Sports Tourism Complex. 

Texas State (22-2) advanced to the semifinal round of the tournament on Saturday with the win after going unbeaten in pool play, while South Alabama closed its season at 8-14.

GAME FACTS
- USA jumped out to a 2-0 lead in set one, but Texas State answered with a 5-0 scoring run for a 5-2 advantage. Consecutive kills by Rebecca Walk and Hannah Maddux tied the score 6-6, but the Bobcats responded with a 6-0 run to double their lead at 12-6. A kill by Hannah Harris and Bobcat attack error cut the USA deficit to 15-10, but Texas State used a 3-0 run to take an 18-10 lead. Texas State later earned set point at 24-13 on a Jaguar bad set, and clinched the set 25-13 on a Jaguar attack error for a 1-0 lead in the match.
- USA took a 5-4 lead early in set two on a block-assist by Hannah Johnson and Maddux. TXST broke a 7-7 tie with a 3-0 run to build a 10-7 advantage. USA cut its deficit to 16-12 on consecutive service aces by Harris. A 4-0 TXST run pushed the Bobcat lead to 21-13 before a 4-1 Jag run, highlighted by kills by Johnson and Jones, and a block-assist from Johnson and Soboleski to cut the Texas State lead to 23-19. The Bobcats earned set point at 24-19 on a kill by Tyeranee Scott, and clinched the set 25-20 on a kill by Emily DeWalt for a 2-0 lead in the match.
- Texas State scored five of the first six points in set three for a 5-1 advantage. USA answered with a 4-0 run that featured kills by Jones, Maddux and Harris, and a service ace from Harris to tie the score 5-5. A Bobcat attack error and solo block by Johnson tied the score 9-9. The Jags cut the Bobcat lead to 11-10 on a kill by Harris, but TXST responded with a 5-0 run to take a 16-10 lead. Texas State later earned match point at 24-17 on a block-assist by Kenedi Rutherford and Jillian Slaughter, and clinched the set 25-18 on a kill by Slaughter to clinch the match 3-0.

NOTES
- South Alabama recorded five service aces in the match, led by Harris who finished with three in addition to seven kills and two digs.
- Johnson finished with three total blocks, along with five kills and one dig.
- Soboleski fell one dig shy of a double-double, finishing with 21 assists and nine digs while also recording two kills, one service ace and two total blocks.
- Hickey finished with a game-high 12 digs, and also added five assists.

QUOTES
Head Coach Alexis Meeks-Rydell
- On the loss:
"Normally, after you lose at the conference tournament, you're filled with disappointment and things you wish you could have done better as a team or coaching staff. I am obviously disappointed that we lost, but we fought. And even though the scores may not show it, we just made some mistakes at times that we couldn't afford to make against a team like Texas State. You can't make those type of mistakes or errors on a team like that. Even though we lost to UTA in five sets at the conference tournament last year, I feel like we played better against Texas State today than we did against UTA last year. I think we were more consistent today and fought harder. I told the team (after the match) that this is all part of the process. Coming to the conference tournament is a different experience than playing regular season. Last year we played OK, went five (sets) and lost, and this year we won a game and moved on, then played better. Next year, that progress is just going to continue forward, and that's all part of building the program into what you want it to be. Of course we're disappointed that we lost; there are things we wish we could have done differently, but at the end of the day we showed up and fought."

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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.