USA-TTU box score
USA-UNCA box score

COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – The University of South Alabama volleyball team split a pair of matches at the Golden Eagle Invitational Friday at Eblen Center. 

South Alabama (4-1) fell in five sets (25-23, 18-25, 27-29, 25-21, 8-15) to tournament host Tennessee Tech before rebounding for a win in straight sets (25-11, 25-19, 25-17) over UNC Asheville. The Jaguars will close play at the Golden Eagle Invitational on Saturday when they face Valparaiso at 10:30 a.m.

TTU 3, USA 2
GAME FACTS
- TTU held a 2-1 lead early in set one before a 3-0 Jaguar scoring run that included kills by Maddie Soboleski and Niki Capizzi doubled the USA lead at 4-2. 
- The Golden Eagles responded with a 3-0 run to take a 5-4 lead.
- A TTU attack error gave the Jags a 6-5 advantage in set one, but a 4-0 Golden Eagle run pushed the TTU lead to 9-6. But the Jaguars answered with an 8-1 run, highlighted by kills from Ezgi Karabulut, Kennedy Wallace and Carissa Bradford, a service ace by Capizzi, and block-assists from Bradford and Capizzi and Wallace and Kailey Keeble, for a 14-10 lead.
- The Golden Eagles cut the Jag lead to 15-12 on a kill from Madolyn Isringhausen, but USA used a 3-0 run to push its lead to 18-12 in the opening set.
- Consecutive kills by Capizzi and Karabulut gave the Jaguars a 21-15 advantage. USA later earned set point at 24-20 on a kill by Bradford, and clinched the set 25-23 on a kill by Wallace for a 1-0 lead in the match.
- South Alabama jumped out to a 6-1 lead in set two, aided by a pair of TTU attack errors and kills by Soboleski and Karabulut, and a solo block by Capizzi.
- TTU used a 4-0 run to cut the USA lead to 6-5, and tied the score 8-8 on a Jaguar ball-handling error.
- South Alabama took a 10-9 lead on a TTU attack error, but the Golden Eagles went on a 3-0 run to take a 12-10 lead in set two.
- The Golden Eagles later earned set point at 24-18 on a Jaguar service error, and clinched the set 25-18 on a kill by Morgan Gish to tie the match at one set apiece.
- TTU scored the first three points of set three to build a 3-0 advantage, but the Jags responded with a 6-0 run, highlighted by two block-assists by Soboleski and Wallace, service ace from Alayna Maslinski and kill by Soboleski, for a 6-3 lead. 
- Consecutive Golden Eagle attack errors pushed the USA lead to 11-8 in set three before TTU went on a 3-0 run to tie the score 11-11.
- USA tied the score 14-14 on a TTU service error, and took a 15-14 lead on a block-assist by Wallace and Soboleski.
- TTU took a 20-18 lead on back-to-back kills by Isringhausen before a kill by Capizzi and Golden Eagle attack error tied the score 20-20.
- A block-assist by Capizzi and Keeble tied the score 22-22 in set three. TTU earned set point at 24-22 on a kill by Gish before consecutive kills by Soboleski tied the score 24-24. TTU earned set point at 25-24 on a kill by Gish, but a kill by Wallace tied the score 25-25. A Jaguar attack error gave the Golden Eagles set point at 26-25 before a kill by Karabulut on an assist from Keeble tied the score 26-26. A block-assist by Karabulut and Capizzi gave USA set point at 27-26, but a kill by Isringhausen tied the score 27-27. A South Alabama attack error gave TTU set point at 28-27, and the Golden Eagles clinched the set 29-27 with a block to take a 2-1 lead in the match.
- Tennessee Tech took a 4-2 lead early in set four, but USA responded with a 3-0 run that featured a kill by Keeble for a 5-4 advantage. Consecutive kills by Wallace and Bradford gave the Jags a 7-5 lead, but a 3-0 TTU run gave the Golden Eagles an 8-7 advantage. But the Jags answered with a 3-0 run, highlighted by a kill by Karabulut and service ace from Paige Lynn, for a 10-8 lead. 
- USA held a 15-13 lead coming out of a media timeout in set four before TTU went on a 4-0 run, aided by a Jaguar attack error and service error, for a 17-15 advantage. The Jags then tied the score 17-17 on a kill by Keeble and TTU attack error.
- USA took a 20-19 lead after a kill by Karabulut and TTU attack error before a kill by Isringhausen tied the score 20-20. A kill by Capizzi then gave the Jags a 21-20 lead and forced a Golden Eagle timeout.
- With the score tied at 21, South Alabama scored consecutive points on a kill by Soboleski and service ace from Keeble for a 23-21 advantage.
- USA earned set point at 24-21 on a TTU attack error, and clinched the set 25-21 on a Golden Eagle bad set to cap a 4-0 run to close the set and tie the match 2-2.
- TTU took a 4-1 lead in set five after a 3-0 scoring run. A kill by Keeble cut the Jag deficit in half at 4-2 before a 4-0 Golden Eagle run that was aided by a pair of USA attack errors and a ball-handling error pushed the TTU lead to 8-2.
- South Alabama cut the TTU lead in half at 8-4 after back-to-back kills from Soboleski and Bradford.
- The Golden Eagles doubled their lead to 12-6 later in the set on a kill by Madeline Furtado.
- TTU earned match point at 14-6 on a block-assist by Ashley Hand and Skylar Boom, and clinched the set 15-8 on a kill by Isringhausen to secure a 3-2 victory in the match.

NOTES
- Keeble recorded her second consecutive double-double, finishing with 38 assists and 14 digs along with two kills, one service ace and three total blocks.
- Soboleski recorded 12 kills and 11 digs for her first double-double of the season, and also added five total blocks.
- Karabulut finished with a career-high 12 kills and 13 digs to post her first career double-double, and added one block-assist.
- Capizzi posted eight kills, one service ace, one dig and a career-high six total blocks. 
- The loss extended South Alabama's road losing streak to six matches dating back to last season.
- The loss also marked the first for the Jags in 2021.

USA 3, UNC-ASHEVILLE 0
GAME FACTS
- The Jags jumped out to a 3-0 lead in set one on three straight kills by Capizzi, Rachel Hickey and Soboleski. The Bulldogs cut the USA lead to 3-1 on a kill by Lexy Cole before South Alabama went on a 5-0 run, highlighted by a pair of kills from Wallace, to take an 8-1 lead. 
- UNC Asheville cuts its deficit in half at 10-5 on a kill by Peyton McClinton, but the Jags answered with a 4-0 scoring run that featured a kill by Bradford to take a 14-5 lead.
- USA went on a 3-0 run later in the set that featured a pair of kills by Eirini Glynou and a service ace by Maslinski to build a 21-9 advantage.
- The Jags earned set point at 24-10 via a three-point run that included a solo block by Glynou, block-assist by Glynou and Wallace and a kill by Bradford. South Alabama clinched the set 25-11 on a kill by Bradford to take a 1-0 lead in the match.
- USA broke a 2-2 tie in set two with a 3-0 run that featured a service ace by Soboleski and block-assist from Wallace and Karabulut to take a 5-2 lead.
- A bad set by the UNC Asheville doubled the Jag lead to 6-3, but the Bulldogs answered with a 5-0 run, aided by a pair of Jag attack errors, to take an 8-6 lead.
- South Alabama took a 12-10 lead in set two with a 3-0 run that included a kill by Soboleski and block-assist from Wallace and Keeble. A kill by Carley Modlin cut the Bulldog deficit to one at 12-11, but USA reeled off another 3-0 run on kills by Wallace, Soboleski and Bradford – with Keeble assisting on each – to take a 15-11 lead. 
- A 4-0 Bulldog run later in the set cut the UNC Asheville deficit to 20-18, but a kill by Capizzi and service ace from Glynou pushed the USA lead to 22-18. 
- The Bulldogs jumped out to a 3-1 lead in set three before a 4-0 Jag run, which was highlighted by a pair of kills from Soboleski, gave South Alabama a 5-3 advantage. UNC Asheville cut the Jag lead to 5-4 on a kill by Cole, but the Jags reeled off four straight points on a pair of kills by Wallace, service ace from Keeble and kill by Bradford to cap an 8-1 scoring run for a 9-4 advantage.
- The Bulldogs used a 3-0 run to cut the Jag lead to 9-7 before a kill by Bradford and block-assist from Bradford and Wallace pushed the USA lead to 11-7. UNC Asheville then answered with a 4-0 run, capped by consecutive kills from Molly Hackett, to tie the score 11-11.
- A kill by Hackett cut the Jaguar lead to 16-15 later in the set, but USA responded with a 6-0 run, highlighted by a pair of service aces from Keeble, for a 22-15 advantage.
- South Alabama earned match point at 24-16 on a kill by Karabulut, and clinched the set 25-17 on a kill by Morgan Stalcup to sweep the match.

NOTES
- The win marked South Alabama's fourth in straight sets this season.
- Soboleski finished with a career-high 13 kills, a .323 hitting percentage, one service ace and eight digs.
- Wallace added eight kills and .467 hitting percentage along with five total blocks.
- Bradford recorded eight kills, one dig and one block.
- Capizzi added eight kills, .438 hitting percentage, two digs and two total blocks.
- Keeble finished with a career-high 40 assists, and also added two kills, three service aces, five digs and one block.
- Hickey led the team with 12 digs, and also added a kill, and Lynn finished with 10 digs.
- Karabulut recorded 10 digs, along with two kills, one service ace and one block.
- The victory also snapped a Jaguar six-match road losing skid. 
- USA finished with seven service aces in the match.

QUOTES
Head Coach Jesse Ortiz
- On playing five sets against TTU:
"Just having the kind of depth that we have, one of the things that you can worry about is people getting complacent but I hand it to my group – we fought the whole time, we just weren't very clean. Being high-error put Tennessee Tech in that position. Volleyball is an interesting sport where your positives go to you, but your negatives go to the opponent. We just had too many negatives and that's uncharacteristic for us. We have a young group and it is definitely a teaching moment and something we can learn from. If we try to be something we're not, then teams we feel like we are formidable against are going to be able to come and get us. But hats off to Tennessee Tech; they have a great group and are going to great in the OVC. We just felt like we let one go there, and hopefully that fuels us for the rest of the year."

- On the win over UNC Asheville:
"I think there was some residual from Tennessee Tech. I have high standards, but I think most important is the group has high standards. They were not OK with that (loss), and you saw a little bit in this match where we came out and were just on fire and then the ball started rolling. The hill got a little steeper and we were just coming at them (UNC Asheville). We're a little more physical, and I like our volleyball comparatively. I think anyone who was up after that last one (TTU match) was getting a battle. I certainly appreciate them (team) coming in and holding that standard; that is good for us moving forward."

UP NEXT
South Alabama will return to action Saturday when it faces Valparaiso at 10:30 a.m. to close the Golden Eagle Invitational in Cookeville, Tenn. 

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