MONROE, La. - South Alabama (12-3) wins its first road conference match of the season against ULM (4-13) in a 3-0 sweep.
The Jaguars started strong with the second point of the match being the product of a tandem block from Maddie Soboleski and Lillie Simons. Multiple players earned kills early on, with Abryanna Cannon and Niki Capizzi scoring two each before either team reached 10 points. Hannah Maddux then added to her conference-leading service aces record by threading back to back aces down for a three point lead. The Jags continued to roll through the set and benefited from a number of Warhawk errors. South won 25-19.
USA kept the pedal to the metal, scoring a 5-0 run to start the second set, fueled by two Maddux kills and her third ace. The Jags never looked back as the set saw four kills by Cannon, three by Capizzi, Briana Wilson's first kill of the season, and another four from Maddux, including the final two from South Alabama in the set. The Jags entered set three off of a 25-14 set.
ULM did not go away quietly though, staying tied through nine points for both sides, which saw a service ace for Paige Lynn, a solo block for Maddux, and Soboleski and Capizzi each tallying a pair of kills. It wasn't until a Simons-Cannon block sent Lynn back to serve that the Jags earned some breathing room from three service aces in a row. Maddux then continued her dominance with two quick kills, a block with Simons, and a fourth ace on the night. South reached set point at 24-21, but ULM rallied back to draw it at 24 before Soboleski set it back to a South set point, and Capizzi solidified it at 26-24.
Soboleski finished with a team-leading 11 kills and two blocks. Maddux put home 10 kills, four aces, and two blocks to lead the team with 15.5 points. Cannon also tracked double-digit points with nine kills and two blocks. Simons led the team with four blocks, Keeble led the team in assists and digs, with 35 and 13, respectively. Lynn set her career high in service aces with four thanks to her stellar third set performance.
NOTES
- This is the fourth match that the Jaguars have eclipsed .300 hitting percentage this season, and the first in conference play.
- ULM's three team blocks are the fewest by a USA opponent this season.
- USA's nine aces are the second most this season, only behind the 10 ace performance vs Auburn.
UP NEXT
South Alabama will finish the series at ULM on Sept. 29 at 2 p.m. before returning back to Jag Gym for a series against Arkansas State.
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—USA—
