South Alabama 3, Troy 1
MOBILE, Ala. – The University of South Alabama volleyball team defeated Troy in four sets (27-29, 25-17, 25-15, 26-24) Saturday in Sun Belt Conference action at Trojan Arena.

USA (11-5, 6-0 SBC) extended its SBC winning streak to six matches with the victory, after sweeping the Trojans in straight sets Wednesday at Jag Gym, while also claiming its third straight road win dating back to the SBC opener at Texas State on Sept. 22 in San Marcos, Texas. The Jaguars improved their advantage in the all-time series with Troy (6-14, 1-5 SBC) to 43-27.

South Alabama will return to action Fri., Oct., 13, when it travels to Statesboro, Ga., for a 5 p.m. (CT) match with Georgia Southern.

GAME FACTS
- South Alabama recorded 14 total team blocks, marking its second straight match with 10 or more total team blocks and the eighth in the last nine matches.
- USA posted a .302 hitting percentage in the match, which marked the third consecutive match with a .300-plus team hitting percentage.
- South Alabama recorded a .323 hitting percentage in the opening set; however, Troy posted a .349 team hitting percentage on 43 total attacks.
- The Jaguars hit .296 in the second set and .233 in the third set before finishing the contest with a .342 team hitting percentage in the final set.
- South Alabama finished five service aces in the match, with Roberts, Alabastro, Harrell, Baker and Arissa Chappell recording one apiece.

NOTES
- Kelley Hartman tied a career high with 17 kills, while also recording a .481 hitting percentage, six digs, one solo block and three block assists.
- Kristina Alabastro finished with 13 kills, .297 hitting percentage, one service ace, seven digs and tied a career high with eight total blocks – one solo block and seven block assists.
- Ashlyn Roberts finished with a team-high 22 assists along with eight digs, while Parker Harrell added 20 assists, one kill, five digs and one service ace.
- Abby Baker led the Jaguars with 13 digs in four sets, and also added five assists and one service ace.

QUOTES
Head Coach Amy Hendrichovsky
- On the win:
"I feel like we played well. I don't think our defensive execution was very good in the first set, but we were able to execute better in the second set. I thought we played well, but I also thought Troy played really well today too. They made some lineup adjustments and played a good match. It was a competitive match, and I'm proud of our team for getting the win at the end."

- On the team's response to dropping the opening set:
"During our intermission between the first and second sets, I told the team our response after that first set loss and our statement were very important. We came out and scored the first five points of the set, and I knew then that our team wasn't going to back down just because we lost the first set. We still had to battle after that, but I'm just proud of our statement and our effort to start that second set. I think we just responded in the moment. We had people come up in key opportunities. Kristina (Alabastro) had a really good match today offensively and defensively. I just thought it was nice to see some other people step up when we needed them."

UP NEXT
South Alabama will return to action Fri., Oct., 13, when it travels to Statesboro, Ga., for a 5 p.m. (CT) SBC match with Georgia Southern.

Texas State 3, Arkansas State 0
JONESBORO, Ark. – The Texas State volleyball team collected a 3-0 victory (25-20, 25-22, 26-24) over Arkansas State in a Sun Belt Conference match Saturday night inside Convocation Center.

The Bobcats (13-7, 5-1 SBC) earned their fifth-straight triumph, all by 3-0 margins. The last time the maroon and gold swept five-consecutive opponents came back in October 2000. The Red Wolves (10-9, 3-3 SBC) suffered their first 3-0 loss in SBC play since Nov. 22, 2014 against Little Rock.

Sophomore Amy Pflughaupt blasted a career-high 19 kills on a .326 attack percentage (five errors, 43 swings). Classmate Megan Porter recorded her seventh double-double of the season (11 kills, 11 digs), and senior Erin Hoppe distributed a match-high 42 assists. Sophomores Micah Dinwiddie (13) and Mattie Adams (12) combined for 25 digs.

Texas State was able to earn a 25-20 victory in the first set of play. Arkansas State powered on top 10-7 early, but the Bobcats ventured on a 7-1 run to move ahead 14-11. The home side drew level at 15-15 and later 17-17, but TXST won eight of the final 11 points to claim the opener.

The Bobcats never trailed in the second en route to a 25-22 triumph. Texas State initially found a 5-1 lead that swelled to 13-8 and then later 21-14. Arkansas State fought back and got within two at 24-22, but the deficit inevitably proved to be too much to overcome.

The Red Wolves came out on fire after intermission, as they surged to an 11-4 advantage in the third frame. They later found an 18-10 lead and looked primed to send proceedings into a fourth set. Texas State would not be denied its fifth-straight sweep, however, as the visitors went on a 16-6 run to claim the match 26-24. The Bobcats initially pulled to within five at 20-15, but they fell behind 23-18. Arkansas State found set points at 24-22, but Texas State claimed each of the final four points.

Drew Jones led the Red Wolves with 13 kills. Carlisa May reached 10 kills, but she had nine errors on 34 swings for a .029 hitting percentage. Ellie Watkins contributed 34 assists, and Tatum Ticknor finished with 16 digs in the losing effort.

Texas State paced the evening in kills (49-38), attack percentage (.232-.146), assists (47-36), digs (58-49) and blocks (11-7). Arkansas State led in aces (2-1).

The next outing for Texas State will be the final non-conference clash of the season. The maroon and gold will play host to TCU at 6 p.m. Oct. 10 in the 11th Annual Pink Match inside Strahan Coliseum. In conjunction with their bout with the Horned Frogs, the Bobcats will take donations and hold a silent auction to help promote cancer awareness and raise money for Pink Heals Hays County.

Little Rock 3, UTA 2
LITTLE ROCK – In head coach Van Compton's 800th Division I match, Little Rock volleyball earned a thrilling five-set win (25-19, 13-25, 25-16, 22-25, 15-10) over division-foe UT Arlington on Saturday night at the Jack Stephens Center.

Marina Avram earned her sixth double-double of the season with 11 kills and 11 digs for the Trojans (6-12, 2-4 Sun Belt). Veronica hit a team-high .267 with 10 kills and three total blocks (two solo and one assisted). Sydnee Martin scooped up a career-high 29 digs with a kill and an ace. Daisha Gillard put up a career-high seven blocks (two solo and five assisted) and tied her career high with nine aces. Taylor Lindberg put up a match-high 37 assists with three kills, eight digs, an ace and two block assists.

Qiana Canete led the Mavericks (8-11, 2-4 Sun Belt) with a double-double of her own as she put down a match-high 22 kills with 15 digs. Haley Higgins and Madison Felt each had 25 assists while Libbie Vickers led the match with 32 digs.

Tied 4-4 in the fifth set, Little Rock used a 6-2 run to go up 10-6. The Mavs brought the set back to two points at 10-8, but the Trojans maintained control and ended the set on a 5-2 run. Little Rock's defense was responsible for six total blocks in the set and held UTA's offense to a flat .000 hitting percentage. Four of Gillard's seven blocks occurred during the set.

UTA led the entirety of the fourth set as it never gave up the lead. As the Mavs earned set point with a 24-18 lead, Little Rock scored four consecutive points thanks to a kill by Mya Robinson and three UTA errors. The Mavs' Kylie Jedlicka final put the set away with a kill. Robinson led the set with 10 digs while Marin had five kills.

After a lopsided loss in the second set, Little Rock rebounded nicely in the third frame with a nine-point win. The Trojans hit a match-high .364 during the set with 14 kills while the Mavericks hit .258. Despite the point differential, the set had 10 tie scores and four lead changes — the most of any set. Robinson led the Trojans with five kills on 11 swings with no errors.

The Trojans' worst set of the night occurred during the second frame as it hit -.029 while the Mavericks had their best set of the night with a .400 hitting percentage. As a result, UTA went on to take a 12-point victory.

Little Rock began the match with a six-point win over the Mavericks. The Trojans trailed 7-4 early on, but they rallied with a 13-4 run to go up 17-11 and forced a Maverick timeout. UTA managed to cut the deficit to four, but it was too little, too late as Little Rock maintained control for the rest of the set. Martin had an incredible first set as she dug up 12 digs and earned a kill. Avram led the Trojans with four kills as the team hit .270 compared to the Mavs' .085.

Robinson ended the match with a career-high 18 digs along with nine kills and an ace. Off the bench, Nedima Kamberovic finished with two kills while Jovana Cernjanski had two digs.

The Trojans' victory was their first over the Mavericks at home since 2015.

Little Rock will now turn its attention to Monday night as it travels to Jonesboro to take on rival Arkansas State at 6:30 p.m. The match will air live on ESPN3.