09/23/05–
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
TROJANS RALLY TO DEFEAT SOUTH ALABAMA 3-2 IN
SBC OPENER
CONTACT:
Kevin Beasley
Box
Score
MOBILE,
Ala. – The University of South
Alabama jumped out to a 2-0 match lead only to see in-state foe
Troy rally to defeat the Jags 3-2 in the Sun Belt Conference opener
Friday night at Jag Gym.
South Alabama (6-8, 0-1 SBC) will take on Western
Kentucky (13-1, 1-0 SBC) on Sunday at 1 p.m. at Jag Gym. The Toppers
defeated Middle Tennessee 3-0 in Bowling Green, Ky., on Friday night.
The Jags came out in game one and took control from
the start, taking a quick 9-4 lead on a Jenna Swilley kill. South
Alabama never trailed in the opener and went on to lead by as many
as 10 on three occasions before Troy (7-4, 1-0 SBC) reeled off six
unanswered points to cut the margin to four at 26-22. That was as
close as the Trojans got however in game one and USA won 30-24.
Game two was tight early on until Swilley gave USA
a 10-4 advantage after recording three kills in a four point stretch.
The Jag women continued to dominate the rest of game two and eventually
grabbed a 10-point cushion at 22-12 on a Trojan attack error. Troy
again tried to mount a rally but could get only as close as five
(25-20) before the Jags went on to take game two, 30-21.
USA came out of the intermission and reeled off
two quick points to start the third game, but Troy responded with
seven straight points of its own to take a 7-2 lead. The Trojans
maintained a five point cushion for much of the third game, until
the final points, USA was able to close the gap to 29-28 after a
Trojan service error. Troy however cut the match lead to 2-1 after
USA recorded an attack error of its own gave the Trojans game three,
30-28.
In the fourth contest, Troy continued its hot play,
jumping out to an 8-2 advantage on a Liz Schaab kill. South Alabama
quickly responded with a 6-0 run to knot the game up at 8-all on
a Brittany Blackwelder kill. The game remained close for much of
the rest of the way until at 18-18, Troy opened up a three-point
margin, started by another Schaab kill. Troy went on to take the
fourth game 30-25 and tie the match at 2-2.
In the fifth and deciding game, the Trojans jumped
out to a quick 3-0 lead before USA tied it up with three straight
points of its own. Over much of the rest of the game neither team
was able to take more than a one-point advantage until with USA
leading 11-10, Troy's Leah Tenney posted three-straight kills to
give the Trojans a two point lead at 13-11. USA was able to cut
it to one but could not get any closer and fell 15-13.
Whitney Sanders posted her second straight 20-kill
match with a match-high 22 kills. Swilley and Blackwelder also had
double figures in that category with 16 and 12 kills, respectively.
Troy was led by offensively by Eliza Zwettler's
17 kills. Tenney and Schaab each finished with 16 as well.
.
TROY 24 21 30 30 15 - 3
USA 30 30 28 25 13 - 2
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