TROY, Ala. ? The University of South Alabama volleyball team will close out a three-match road swing Saturday afternoon when the Lady Jags travel to take on in-state rival and Sun Belt East Division member Troy at Trojan Arena. First serve is set for Noon. Admission is free and live stats of the match can be accessed at http://stats.troytrojans.com/2006/volleyball/game/.
“I feel that we have had a good week of practice,” said South Alabama volleyball head coach Nicole Keshock. “We have focused a lot on competitive game-like situations this week. Our last match against Troy was a very close and competitive match and I am looking forward to the same scenario this weekend.”
LAST WEEK’S ACTION ON THE COURT: The South Alabama volleyball team dropped a pair of 3-0 decisions on the road last weekend. USA fell 3-0 (30-16, 30-25, 30-22) at Denver on Friday night and then 3-0 (30-24, 30-21, 30-15) to West Division leader North Texas in Denton on Sunday.
Jenna Swilley continues to lead the club offensively, averaging 2.94 kills per game. Lauren Robbins is right behind Swilley with 2.90 kpg. On the defensive side of the net, Summer Pilgrim has missed the last four matches due to injury but continues to pace the club with a team-high 1.10 blocks per game. Junior Shannon VanAntwerp also leads the team in digs with 3.09 per game.
SCOUTING THE LADY TROJANS: Troy enters the contest against USA on Saturday with an 8-20 overall record on the season. The Lady Trojans are 2-10 in conference play and have lost eight of their last nine matches since playing USA back on Sept. 26. The lone victory for Troy came at Louisiana-Monroe, when TU held on to take a five game match 3-2 (30-20, 35-30, 30-19, 28-30 and 15-5).
The Lady Trojans are led offensively by Aubre Smith, who is averaging nearly three kills per game at 2.97. Jean McCarthy also has a team-best 34 service aces on the season.
TROY VERSUS THE LADY JAGS: The meeting between South Alabama and Troy will be the 47th in the all-time series Saturday afternoon. The Jaguars hold a commanding 31-15 lead in the all-time series. Troy, however, has taken two of the last three meetings, including a 3-2 (25-30, 30-28, 30-25, 17-30, 11-15) victory in Mobile earlier this season. The Jags, as they did last season, led 2-1 in the match heading into game four, but dropped the final two games to lose the conference home opener. USA was led offensively on the night by Lauren Robbins and Taylor Irvin, who finished with 12 and 10 kills, respectively. Smith led four Lady Trojans in double figures with a match-high 21 kills of her own. Defensively, Pilgrim and Kalyn Hundley finished with nine and eight block assists, respectively, for South Alabama.
Last year, the Lady Jags came back from a 2-0 deficit in Troy to take the match 3-2 (32-34, 26-30, 30-18, 30-26, 15-9). Four Jags finished in double figures in kills on the night, including Swilley (13) and Pilgrim (10). Smith had 18 kills in the match for the Trojans.
NEXT UP FOR THE LADY JAGS: South Alabama will return to Mobile to take on Middle Tennessee on Nov. 3 at 7 p.m. and close out the home portion of its schedule when the Jags take on Western Kentucky on Nov. 4 at 2 p.m.
