DENTON, Texas ? The University of South Alabama volleyball team will continue Sun Belt Conference action Friday evening when it travels to the “Lone Star” state to take on North Texas at 7 p.m. at the North Texas Volleyball Center.
Live stats for the match with the Mean Green can be accessed at www.usajaguars.com. Following the match with North Texas, USA will head to take on Denver on Sunday.
“Both teams are coming into this match Friday playing well,” South Alabama head coach Nicole Keshock said. “North Texas picked up a big win over Western Kentucky on Sunday as did we against Florida Atlantic. As long as we play the way I know we can, we should be able to put ourselves in a position to be successful.”
South Alabama (9-9, 3-7 SBC) enters the SBC match on Friday versus North Texas after sweeping Florida Atlantic 3-0 (25-18, 25-20, 25-15) in Mobile. Against the Owls, the Jags played one of their most complete matches of the season, having five players record six or more kills, led by sophomore outside hitter Hristina Markova’s match-high 13. The Sofia, Bulgaria native also finished with two service aces, two block assists and recorded a .579 hitting percentage (13-2-19).
One key stat of the match was in the blocking category, where USA recorded 10 total blocks, compared to just three from FAU. The Owls had entered the weekend as the league leader in that category.
Coming into the contest versus the Mean Green, four starters are averaging over two kills each, led by Juliana Pallamin de Almeida and Markova’s 2.62 kills per set each. Almeida has also recorded five double-doubles in USA’s 10 conference matches this season and just missed another against the Owls on Sunday. Following the Jag duo is Schwartz (2.19 kps) and Tereza Bendlova (2.12 kps).
Defensively, freshman libero Samia Salomao leads the way with 4.09 digs per set, fourth-best in the SBC. Through 18 matches, Salomao has recorded double-digit dig tallies 14 times. Lindsay Schwartz and Brittany Blackwelder have also been strong on the front line defense for the Jags this season as the duo ranked third and seventh in the Sun Belt, respectively, in blocks per set entering play this week. Schwartz enters the match against UNT averaging a team-best 1.13 per set, while Blackwelder is close behind (0.99 bps).
As a team, South Alabama ranks third in the Sun Belt in blocks per set at 2.29, while also ranking third in the league in opponent hitting percentage (.168) and fourth in aces (1.44 per set).
North Texas comes into play this weekend with a 4-17 record on the season and a 2-6 mark in the Sun Belt. Despite the rough season thus far, the Mean Green enters the match after upsetting perennial Sun Belt power Western Kentucky 3-0 (25-21, 25-21, 25-17) in Denton. The win was the program’s first-ever for UNT over the Hilltoppers and snapped a six-match skid.
Against WKU, sophomore Roxana Casvean posted 16 kills with a .419 hitting percentage, while sparking the Mean Green offense to 41 total kills and a .315 hitting percentage. Following her performance last weekend, Casvean was named the SBC’s Player of the week. Entering Friday’s match, the Mean Green outside hitter has reached double-digit kills in four of her last five matches and leads the team with 2.99 kills per set.
Junior outside hitter Salah Schoencke and sophomore middle blocker Amy Huddleston are also averaging over two kills a set for the Mean Green, coming in at 2.25 and 2.19, respectively.
The offensive performance by North Texas on Sunday certainly was one of its best of the season. As a team, UNT is hitting just .139, 11th in the Sun Belt.
South Alabama and North Texas will meet for the 17th time on Friday night. UNT holds a 12-5 lead in the all-time series, but last season, the Jags captured a 3-0 (30-21, 30-22, 30-17) victory over the Mean Green in Mobile. The win was the first for South Alabama's in the series since the 2001 season when the Jags defeated North Texas 3-2 in Denton. Against UNT, the Jaguar offense was on fire, recording a blistering .419 hitting percentage (52-8-105). Almeida led the way with 14 kills on 21 attacks, while committing no attack errors for a .667 percentage.
For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).
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