USA-Ball State box score
USA-William & Mary box score


TAMPA, Fla. – South Alabama volleyball split a pair of matches Friday at the USF Invitational to open the 2022 season.

USA (1-1) fell to Ball State 3-1 (25-21, 19-25, 23-25, 23-25) in the season opener, but rebounded with a 3-0 (25-17, 25-20, 25-19) sweep of William & Mary Friday afternoon at The USF Corral. 

UP NEXT
South Alabama will close play at the USF Invitational Saturday at noon (CT) against USF. The match will be broadcast live on ESPN+, and available through the WatchESPN app. Live stats for the match will also be available through the multimedia section of USAJaguars.com.

Ball State 3, South Alabama 1
Set 1
- The Jags held a one-point lead at 13-12 in set one before a 5-1 scoring run pushed the advantage to 17-12, aided by kills from Hannah Maddux, Maddie Soboleski and Niki Capizzi.
- Ball State tied the score 21-21 in set one with a 4-0 scoring run, but a block-assist by Maddux and Morgan Stalcup and Ball State attack error gave USA a 23-21 lead.
- South Alabama earned set point at 24-21 on a kill by Maddux, and clinched the set 25-21 on a Cardinal attack error for a 1-0 lead in the match.

Set 2
- USA took a 5-2 lead after a service ace from Soboleski, but the Cardinals answered with a 5-0 run to take a 7-5 lead.
- A 4-0 Ball State run pushed the Cardinal lead to 17-9.
- The Jags used a 3-0 run that featured a pair of kills by Capizzi and block-assist from Capizzi and Kailey Keeble to cut the Ball State lead to 18-13.
- The Cardinals later earned set point at 24-17 on a block-assist by Addie Halverson and Lauren Gilliland, and clinched the set 25-19 on a kill by Gilliland to even the match at one set apiece.

Set 3
- The Jags jumped out to a 5-2 lead with a 4-0 run that included a pair of kills by Soboleski and service ace from Paige Lynn. But Ball State responded with a 4-0 run to take a 6-5 lead. 
- A 3-0 Cardinal run later in the set gave Ball State a 17-10 lead.
- USA cut its deficit to 17-13 on a pair of Cardinal attack errors and a Ball State service error.
- Ball State later earned set point at 24-19 on a Jaguar service error. South Alabama went on a 4-0 run that included kills by Soboleski and Maddux, and service ace by Rachel Hickey to cut the Cardinal advantage to 24-23.
- The Cardinals clinched the set 25-23 on a block by Halverson to take a 2-1 lead in the match.

Set 4
- USA jumped out to a 3-0 lead with a kill by Maddux, block-assist from Maddux and Capizzi and solo block by Capizzi.
- Ball State tied the score 6-6 with a 3-0 run that was aided by a Jaguar attack error.
-South Alabama cut its deficit to one at 15-14 on a Ball State service error, but the Cardinals answered with a 4-0 run to take a 19-14 lead.
- A 5-0 Jaguar run that featured consecutive kills by Soboleski, a block-assist from Stalcup and Maddux and service ace by Madisen Werdell tied the score 19-19.
- Ball State earned match point at 24-23 on a block-assist by Gilliland and Katie Egenolf, and clinched the set and the match on a block-assist by Gilliland and Megan Wielonski.

NOTES
- Keeble recorded her 20th career double-double with 41 assists and 14 digs, while also adding two blocks and one kill.
- Soboleski recorded her 17th career double-double, finishing with a game-high 14 kills and 13 digs, one service ace and two blocks.
- Capizzi finished with 13 kills, four blocks, one assist, one dig and one service ace.
- Hickey posted a team-high 15 digs, and also added three assists and one service ace.
- The loss marked the first by the Jags in a season opener since 2020, and the second straight loss to Ball State dating back to 2018. 

South Alabama 3, William & Mary 0
Set 1
- A 3-0 Jaguar run that was highlighted by kills from Stalcup and Maddux doubled the USA lead at 10-5.
- The Jags went on a 6-0 run later in the set, which featured three kills by Soboleski and a pair of service aces from Maddux, for a 21-11 advantage.
- William & Mary used a 5-0 run to cut the Jaguar lead to 21-16, but South Alabama responded with a 3-0 run that led to set point 24-16 following a Tribe attack error.
- USA clinched the set 25-17 on a kill by Capizzi to take a 1-0 lead in the match.

Set 2
- William & Mary tied the score 11-11 on a kill by Sabrina Malcolm, but USA answered with a 3-0 run that featured kills by Keeble and Carissa Bradford for a 14-11 advantage.
- A 6-1 Jaguar run later in the set, highlighted by solo blocks from Maddux and Capizzi, pushed the USA lead to 23-17.
- South Alabama earned set point at 24-18 on a kill by Maddux, and clinched the set 25-20 on a kill by Capizzi for a 2-0 lead in the match.

Set 3
- A service ace by Werdell highlighted a 3-0 Jaguar run that opened the set.
- The Jags built a 6-2 lead behind a second 3-0 run that included a kill by Stalcup and service ace from Hickey.
- South Alabama took a 10-4 lead on a 3-0 run that featured a service ace by Soboleski.
- A service ace by Capizzi and kill by Stalcup pushed the USA advantage to 13-6.
- South Alabama held a 19-9 advantage following a Tribe service error and kill by Soboleski.
- USA closed the match with a 3-0 run, earning match point at 24-19 on a William & Mary attack error and clinching the set 25-19 and match on a kill by Soboleski.

NOTES
- Keeble finished with a game-high 21 assists, and added five digs, two blocks and two kills.
- Soboleski recorded a team-high 10 kills, .286 hitting percentage, one assist, two service aces, nine digs and two blocks.
- Capizzi added eight kills and a .583 hitting percentage on 12 attempts, along with a service ace, one dig and four blocks.
- The Jaguars posted a .277 team hitting percentage with 35 kills and nine errors on 94 total attempts.
- USA finished with seven service aces versus one for William & Mary.
- South Alabama totaled nine blocks and 33 digs in three sets.

QUOTES
Head Coach Jesse Ortiz
- On the Ball State match:
"No excuses, that's a really good Ball State team. They were pretty lights out in terms of good arm speed along the net, and they had a great serve. That was definitely a tough opener, but we like the fact that we went against some good competition. They were better today, so we just have to keep our heads down, keep on working and try to get better each and every day. It was a good gauge for us to see where we need to be, and how much harder we can just keep on working."

- On the win over William & Mary:
"William & Mary is a team that is coming up. They did graduate a bunch of players last year, so it was good for us to establish a little bit of a rhythm and get in there and work out some of our wiggles and get the 'W'. We're really excited about that. But every match is another battle, and USF is going to be one tomorrow as well. We're interested in seeing their match tonight and getting after it tomorrow."

- On his thoughts of the opening day of the season:
"We have an opportunity to keep on getting better. I would rather peak later than right now, and I feel like we're a pretty formidable team – there's no doubt about it, but with that being said we still have some room to grow and I feel like that's an opportunity for us; I don't see that as a negative, I see that as an extreme positive. We'll keep on working and that's the testament of the group and the testament as competitors. I feel like it's a tremendous opportunity for us. We'll look forward to getting back to Jag Gym to get some practice in, but we're really excited about giving them (USF) the best match tomorrow."

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