JAGS DEFEAT APP STATE IN FIVE SETS IN PROGRAM-RECORD WIN
BOONE, N.C. – The University of South Alabama volleyball team defeated Appalachian State in five sets (26-28, 25-12, 25-22, 21-25, 15-6) Friday at Holmes Center to earn its program-record 10th Sun Belt Conference win of the season.
USA (15-6, 10-1 SBC) set a program record for SBC wins in a season with the victory, which marked its 10th in league play and sixth straight on the road. App State fell to 8-17 and 3-8 SBC play with the loss.
South Alabama (15-6, 10-1 SBC) will return to action Sun., Oct. 29, when it travels to Conway, S.C., for an 11:30 a.m. (CT) match with Coastal Carolina. The Jaguars and Chanticleers enter Sunday's match tied for the SBC East Division lead. Links for live streaming and live stats for Sunday's match can be accessed through the Jaguar volleyball schedule page at USAJaguars.com.
GAME FACTS
- The Jags battled back to tie the score 12-12 midway through the opening set on a Mountaineer attack error, which kicked off a 4-0 scoring run that pushed the USA lead to 15-12. USA tied the score 23-23 late in the set on a kill by Kelley Hartman. The Jags earned set point at 24-23 after a Mountaineer attack error, but App responded with a kill by Melissa McMath to tie the score at 24 apiece. A Jaguar attack error gave the Mountaineers set point on the ensuing play, but Hartman responded with a kill to tie the score 25-25. An attack error by McBride gave USA set point at 26-25, but App answered with a 3-0 scoring run to clinch the set 28-26.
- App State held a 4-3 lead early in the second set before the Jaguars went on a 10-0 run, highlighted by kills from Hartman, Hannah Harris and Parker Harrell, to take a 13-4 lead. A 3-0 scoring run later in the set that featured kills from Iva Durdanovic and Morgan Stalcup extended the USA lead to 19-9. A kill by Kristina Alabastro gave the Jags set point at 24-12, and a kill by Hartman on an assist from Harrell clinched the second set at 25-12.
- South Alabama posted a .464 team hitting percentage in the second set after committing just one error on 28 total attacks.
- App State earned set point in the fourth set at 24-21 on a kill by McMath, and clinched the set on a service ace by McMath on the ensuing serve.
- USA jumped out to an 8-2 lead in the fifth set following a 4-0 scoring run that was highlighted by a kill from Kelley Hartman and service ace by Kristina Alabastro.
- The Jaguars closed the match on a 5-0 scoring run to for a 15-6 win in set five. A kill by Iva Durdanovic pushed the Jag lead to 11-6 in the fifth set and kicked off the scoring run. A Mountaineer attack error followed before a kill by Morgan Stalcup extended the USA lead to 13-6. The Jags earned set point at 14-6 on an App attack error, and clinched the match on a service ace by Ashlyn Roberts.
- App State's McMath finished with a game-high 18 kills, while the Mountaineers' Ashlyn Brown recorded a game-high 48 assists.
NOTES
- The Jaguars finished with 11 total team blocks, marking their 14th match this season with 10 or more total blocks.
- Harrell recorded her third double-double of the year after posting 19 assists and 13 digs, along with one kill and one service ace. Durdanovic recorded her first double-double of the season, finishing with 10 kills and 15 digs along with one assist and one service ace in five sets.
- Hartman finished with a team-high 13 kills, and recorded a .375 hitting percentage, three digs, two solo blocks and three blocks assists.
- Morgan Stalcup tied her career high in kills (9), and also finished with a .438 hitting percentage, two digs and three block assists.
- Ashlyn Roberts led the Jaguars with 20 assists, while also adding two kills, one service ace, and five digs.
QUOTES
Head Coach Amy Hendrichovsky
- On the win:
"I'm proud of our team to pick up the road win at this point in the season. It's always hard to get a win on the road in conference, and I'm happy we were able to pull that one out tonight."
- On setting a program record for conference wins in a season:
"That's something I can definitely talk to our team about. That is a great accomplishment for this team, we just have to stay focused on our goals and continue to work hard."
UP NEXT
South Alabama will return to action Sun., Oct. 29, when it travels to Conway, S.C., for an 11:30 a.m. (CT) match with Coastal Carolina. The Jaguars and Chanticleers enter Sunday's match tied for the SBC East Division lead. Links for live streaming and live stats for Sunday's match can be accessed through the Jaguar volleyball schedule page at USAJaguars.com.
Aces, Defense Carry @AStateVB to Sweep of GSU
JONESBORO, Ark. (10/27/17) – The Arkansas State volleyball squad used nine service aces and held Georgia State to an .063 hitting percentage as the Red Wolves swept the Panthers 3-0 (25-14, 25-18, 25-17) for their sixth straight win Friday night at First National Bank Arena in Jonesboro.
The nine service aces for A-State (16-9, 9-3 SBC) were tied for the second most in a match this season while the .063 opponent hitting percentage was the second lowest by an A-State foe this season. The Red Wolves hit .295 and were led by 13 kills from Drew Jones and nine by Carlisa May. Defensively, Tatum Ticknor and Kenzie Fields led the team with 10 digs, while Timber Terrell had four blocks. Ticknor and Lindsay Cline each had three aces, with the three for Cline a career-high.
“This was a pretty complete match for us and we have emphasized serving and blocking recently and it paid off with the aces and holding them to a low hitting percentage,” A-State volleyball head coach David Rehr said. “We also had more blocks than them so we accomplished what we wanted to do. Hopefully it will carry over to tomorrow’s match.”
A-State raced out to a 14-3 advantage in the opening set after a kill by Jessica Uke and cruised to an easy 25-14 win. The Red Wolves jumped out to a 10-4 edge in game two on another kill by Uke, but the Panthers (8-16, 2-9 SBC) fought back to within one at 12-11. However, a 9-1 run, capped by three straight aces from Ticknor, put the score at 21-12 and A-State held on to win 25-18.
Arkansas State raced out to a 10-5 lead in set three, but saw Georgia State battle back to within 12-11 later in the frame. However, a 7-1 run pushed A-State in front 19-12, but the Panthers were able to get within four at 21-17. The Red Wolves responded as a kill by Anna Murphy sparked a 4-0 run to send the home team to a 25-17 victory in the final set.
The Red Wolves face Georgia Southern in their final regular-season home match Saturday, Oct. 28. First serve from First National Bank Arena is set for 6:30 p.m. and the team will hold its Senior Day activities prior to the match.
Trojans Score Four-Set Victory Over Georgia Southern
LITTLE ROCK – Little Rock volleyball scored itself a four-set win (26-24, 25-18, 23-25, 25-20) over Georgia Southern on Friday night at the Jack Stephens Center.
Marina Avram led the Trojans (8-16, 4-8 Sun Belt) with her 10th double-double of the season as she put down 18 kills and added 10 digs while hitting a team-high .292. Mya Robinson tallied her fifth double-double of the year with 13 kills and 18 digs. Taylor Lindberg came up one dig shy of a double-double with 42 assists, nine digs, five kills, four total blocks and two aces. Belissa Guidotti led the match with a career-high eight total blocks as she put down a career-high six kills and one ace.
Catherine Murray led the Eagles (7-16, 3-8 Sun Belt) with 15 kills while Joscelin Morrow had a match-high 19 digs. Lauren Reichard hit a match-high .368 with 10 kills and five total blocks.
After beginning the fourth set with a 3-3 tie, Little Rock went up 6-3 and never looked back as it led for the rest of the set. The Trojans hit a match-high .344 during the set as Avram led the Trojans with six kills. Guidotti put up a set-high three block assists. Little Rock earned four total blocks during the set.
With Little Rock hoping to walk away with a 3-0 win, Georgia Southern had other plans as it rallied to take the third set after trailing for the majority of the frame. Avram led the set with six kills as Lindberg had a set-high 13 assists during the frame. Robinson earned a set-high nine digs.
The Trojans had no problem taking the second set as it began the set with a 10-1 lead. Little Rock's largest lead of the match was 12 points at 20-8. It ended the set with a seven-point win. The Trojans had a match-high five total blocks during the set as Avram and Daisha Gillard had three block assists each.
Little Rock and Georgia Southern battled it out in the first set, but eventually, the Trojans earned the set win in extra points. Robinson and Avram each had five kills while Lindberg added 12 assists.
Gillard finished the match with seven kills and six total blocks while Maritza Mesa had five kills with six digs and three block assists. Sydnee Martin tallied 15 digs with one assist, and Nedima Kamberovic had one ace and a dig.
Little Rock led the match in kills (54-52), hitting (.206-.171), aces (4-2) and total blocks (14-8) while Georgia Southern led the match in assists (51-47) and digs (70-61). The Trojans' 14 total blocks were their most in a four-set match this season.
The win pushed Little Rock's all-time series record against Georgia Southern to 6-0.
Little Rock will return to action on Saturday as it faces Georgia State at 6:30 p.m., at the Jack Stephens Center.
Coastal Volleyball Sweeps Troy
CONWAY - The Coastal Carolina volleyball team won its penultimate home match of the season in three sets (25-22, 25-22, 25-22) over Troy Friday night at the HTC Center.
Coastal's seventh straight victory improves the Chants to 13-7, 10-1, while Troy drops to 9-17, 3-8. Friday's three-set sweep was the fifth of the season for Coastal.
Coastal closed the match hitting .213 to Troy's .109, while also holding advantages in kills (37-32), blocks (11-6) and digs (38-35).
Leah Hardeman led all players with 11 kills, and added nine digs. Kinga Windisch put down eight kills on 17 attempts with a single error to lead the match in hitting at .412. Windisch also led Coastal's blockers with five, including three assists and a pair of solo efforts.
Sydney Alvis tallied 12 of Coastal's 38 digs, and Sara Boothe dished out a match-high 22 assists.
The Chants began the match hitting .379 in the first set, their highest hitting percentage of the match. Coastal battled through six ties and three lead changes, and didn't take the lead for good until a Troy error put the Chants in front, 20-19. Three CCU kills and two Trojan errors provided the final points needed for Coastal to take a 1-0 match lead.
Coastal led for the entirety of the middle frame, but was never comfortably in front as Troy kept the margin to within five points throughout. Each team put down 11 kills in the set, but Coastal was buoyed by three blocks and a pair of service aces. Lulic accounted for two of the blocks, while Hardeman and Kyla Manning provided the aces.
The final frame saw Coastal rally from a slight deficit after Troy had taken a 17-14 lead, its largest advantage of the match. Following a CCU timeout the Chants took four of the next five points, all on kills, to even the set at 18 points each and force Troy into a timeout. Coastal's momentum carried through the break as the Chants grabbed the following two points on a Windisch ace and Troy error to claim the match's final lead.
Coastal returns to the HTC Center for the final time this season on Sunday to host South Alabama for a 12:30 p.m. match. Prior to opening serve, the five members of Coastal's senior class will be honored.