Box Score

JONESBORO, Ark. – South Alabama volleyball swept Arkansas State Thursday in Sun Belt Conference action at First National Bank Arena.

USA (10-7, 4-1 SBC) won the opening set 25-20, took set two 25-15 and secured the sweep with a 25-14 win in the third set. The Jaguars recorded a .330 team hitting percentage in the match, which marked their third straight contest where they hit .330 or better.

Hannah Maddux led the Jags with 13 kills, which tied Arkansas State's Macey Putt for the most in the match, along with a .312 hitting percentage, two digs, one service ace and one block. Carissa Bradford added 10 kills, a .476 hitting percentage and one dig. Rachel Hickey, the reigning SBC Defensive Player of the Week, recorded 21 digs for an average of 7.00 digs per set along with five assists and one kill.

The win marked South Alabama's third straight against Arkansas State (5-12, 0-5 SBC) dating back to 2019, and also marked the second straight win in Jonesboro, marking the first time in program history USA has won consecutive matches at ASU. The win also extended USA's win streak to three matches. 

UP NEXT
South Alabama will return to action Friday when it faces Arkansas State at 6 p.m. in Jonesboro, Ark.

QUOTES
Head Coach Jesse Ortiz
- On the win:
"I thought we started off a little bit sluggish in the first set. I think it was just getting used to a new venue; it's bigger than what we're used to in terms of our gym, so I felt like it took us a second to get into a rhythm. We were running around a little bit to start, but after that we really worked our rhythm and started serving better and the defense worked to hold them down. I was pumped on it."

- On opening the series on a Thursday:
"We only had a couple of days to prep, and I liked our preparation – don't get me wrong. They (team) were very dialed in. We talked to them before the game and they were very dialed in and knew all of the things we had pushed on them. But it was only a couple of days, and not having our recovery day on Wednesday I felt like just had us out of our rhythm as far as what we do for our routine. But with that being said, I don't feel like it held us back any. Once we got used to the gym and what they were doing, we just started working them. I like the way we adapted for sure."

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