MOBILE, Ala. | South Alabama volleyball will officially open the 2024 campaign this weekend when it hosts the Jaguar Invitational hosted by Hilton at Providence Park at Jag Gym. 

The Jags will open the three-day tournament when they take on Texas A&M on Friday 5:30 p.m. and then face McNeese State on Sunday at 11 a.m. The Aggies and Cowgirls will also face each other Saturday at 11 a.m.

ESPN+ will broadcast both of South Alabama's matches, and there will be live stats for all three matches, which can all be accessed at USAJaguars.com.

PROMOTIONS
Texas A&M – Welcome To The Jungle  
Promotions: 100 Script South Shirts, 100 Anna Loberg Cards, and pizza giveaway while supplies last

McNeese State – First Responders Day 
Promotions: Enter to win football tickets for Northwestern State Football game (2 tickets)

GAME INFORMATION
Jaguar Invitational by Hampton by Hilton at Providence Park
Site: Jag Gym (Mobile, Ala.)

vs. Texas A&M
AVCA: --| RPI: --
Record: 0-0, 0-0 SEC
Date: 8/30
Time: 6 p.m.

THE SERIES
Series: Second Meeting (TAMU, 1-0)
Home: -- | Away: -- | Neutral: 0-1
3-set: -- | 4-set: -- | 5-set: -- 
Current Streak: TAMU 1
Last Meeting: 10/9/82 (TAMU, 2-0)
Last Time in Mobile: First Meeting

vs. McNeese State
AVCA: -- | RPI: --
Record: 0-0, 0-0 SLC
Date: 9/1
Time: 11 a.m.

THE SERIES
Series: 24th Meeting (USA, 14-9)
Home: 5-2 | Away: 6-3 | Neutral: 3-4
3-set: 5-7 | 4-set: 6-2 | 5-set: 3-0 
Current Streak: USA 4

Last Meeting: 9/3/22 (USA, 3-2)
Last Time in Mobile: 9/2/17 (USA, 3-0)

NOTES
•    South Alabama enters the 2024 season after reaching the NCAA Tournament last fall for the second time in program history
•    The Jaguars were picked to finish third in the West Division in the preseason poll earlier this month
•    South went 22-9 and 12-4 in the Sun Belt a year ago, and returns two starters and five letterwinners from last season's team
•    Abryanna Cannon's 2.31 kills per set are the most among returnees, while ranked second on the team in blocks (103.0) in 2023
•    Cannon had 12 double-digit kill matches, including 17 with eight or more kills in 2023
•    The Jaguars also welcome 11 new additions to the roster – five redshirts (Dalayla Blackwell, Margo Hernandez, Erika Spankus, Aniston Cochran and Preslee Thompson) and six newcomers (Maradith O'Gorman, Sarah Gooch, Abby Nelson, Eva Dittmar, Alexa Strandberg and Megan Smith
•    South Alabama will have to replace nearly 75 percent of its offensive production, its starting setter, starting libero and over 82 percent of its service aces – and among those statistics are all-conference performers Kailey Keeble, Hannah Maddux, Maddie Soboleski and Niki Capizzi
•    Keeble led the conference in assists and assists/set, with 1,214 and 10.65, respectively, and was also among the NCAA leaders in those two categories as she was 15th in the country in assists/set and 27th in total assists

FOLLOW THE JAGS
For complete coverage of South Alabama Volleyball, follow the Jags on social media @SouthAlabamaVB (Twitter), /SouthAlabama (Facebook), @southalabamavb (Instagram) or visit the official home of South Alabama athletics at USAJaguars.com.