JAGS DEFEAT OLE MISS IN FIVE SETS
OXFORD, Miss. – The University of South Alabama volleyball team defeated Ole Miss in five sets (19-25, 25-19, 25-14, 10-25, 18-16) Friday at Gillom Sports Center.

Ole Miss (8-4) forced a fifth set with a 25-10 win in set four, but USA (5-4) rallied in the fifth set to take the match and hand the Rebels just their second home loss of the season.

South Alabama will close its non-conference schedule Saturday when it faces Ole Miss at 1:30 p.m. at Gillom Sports Center in Oxford. Live stats for the match will be available and can be accessed through the Jaguar volleyball schedule page at USAJaguars.com.

GAME FACTS
- USA posted a .333 team hitting percentage in the third set, led by Kristina Alabastro's four kills and .800 hitting percentage in the set.
- The Jags used a 3-0 run in the final set to overcome a one-point deficit and take a 10-8 lead. Following a timeout by Ole Miss, a kill by Iva Durdanovic pushed the Jaguar advantage to 11-8. The Rebels cut the Jaguar lead to one point at 13-12 late in the set, but USA responded with a kill by Hannah Harris to earn match point at 14-12. Ole Miss scored consecutive points on a kill by Lexi Thompson and a Jaguar attack error to tie the score at 14-14. The Rebels earned match point at 15-14 on a Jaguar ball-handling error. USA later tied the score at 16-16 on a kill by Kelley Hartman. The Jaguars then clinched the match on consecutive Ole Miss attack errors.
- South Alabama recorded four of its 12 total team blocks in the fifth set, led by Kelley Hartman's two solo blocks in the set.
- The Jags hit .471 in the fifth set, led by Alabastro and Hannah Harris who each posted three kills and .750 hitting percentage in the set.
- The win marked South Alabama's second straight over Ole Miss, following a win in 2005 in Mobile. The Rebels lead the all-time series 5-3 after Friday's match.

NOTES
- Parker Harrell finished with a season-high 23 assists along with one service ace and seven digs. Ashlyn Roberts added 16 assists, one service ace and seven digs.
- Kelley Hartman recorded a team-high 10 kills and two service aces, while Morgan Stalcup finished with a career-high nine kills. Both Hartman and Stalcup posted two solo blocks and four block assists each.
- Abby Baker recorded a team-high 22 digs, while Alabastro turned in 11 digs along with seven kills, a .375 hitting percentage and one service ace.
- Iva Durdanovic finished with nine kills, while Hannah Harris added seven kills, a .438 hitting percentage and four block assists.

QUOTES
Head Coach Amy Hendrichovsky
- On the win:
"It really just came down to execution and which team was able to execute and not give up runs of points. The first four sets were not as close, because it was about the team that wasn't going to give up a run of points. The fifth set became the most competitive because we both executed on both sides of the ball. It really comes down to us being able to execute consistently for three sets, and tonight we were able to execute three of the sets out of the five. Obviously you would like to do it in less than five, but it was nice that we were on the winning end in executing our game."

- On Ole Miss:
"They have some great outside hitters and right side hitters. The three kids (Lexi Thompson, Emily Stroupe and Kate Gibson) who led them in kills are very athletic, terminating, good outside hitters. The sets that we were able to control them and minimize them being successful really helped us. They are really their three go-to players."

- On the defense:
"We had moments where we did well defensively, and we had moments where we didn't execute defensively. Honestly, they (Ole Miss) beat us in almost every category but a lot of that has to do with the fact that we lost the fourth set as bad as we did. I think we can take what we did tonight and do better tomorrow, and that would be the goal for this team – to improve on what we didn't execute tonight."

UP NEXT
South Alabama will close its non-conference schedule Saturday when it faces Ole Miss at 1:30 p.m. at Gillom Sports Center in Oxford. Live stats for the match will be available and can be accessed through the Jaguar volleyball schedule page at USAJaguars.com.

Trojans Split Day One of Crimson and White Tournament
Trojans Split Day One of Crimson and White Tournament

TUSCALOOSA, Alabama- Troy (5-8) opened the Crimson and White Tournament hosted by Alabama splitting games between Murray State and Southern. Murray State (7-3) defeated the Trojans 3-0 Friday afternoon, but the Trojans bounced back to conclude the day with a 3-0 sweep over the Southern Jaguars (0-8), their second sweep of the season.

Murray State 3, Troy 0

The Racers won the first pair of sets 25-18. They took an early 8-3 lead in set one, but the Trojans quickly tied the match at 10-10. A few quick runs from the Racers forced Troy to take a timeout. The Trojans came out of the timeout hot, but couldn't close the gap as the Racers took a 1-0 lead in the match.

Another early run from the Racers forced Troy to rally as they once again tied the match at 10-10. With their best hitting percentage of the match at .333, Troy competed with the Racers, but Murray State was able to pull away with the second set win.

In the third set, it was Troy who came out fighting taking a 4-1 lead. The Racers tied the match but the Trojans went back ahead with an eight-point run trying to force a fourth set. Murray State was slowly able to cut down Troy's lead and a late six-point run ended in the Racers' favor as they narrowly won set three 25-23 to take the match.

Lauren Long, Belle Waldrop and Cheyenne Hayes led the effort for the Trojans each contributing seven kills in the match. Sophomore Savannah Moore continued to look strong for Troy with a team- high eight points and four total blocks.

Troy 3, Southern 0

Looking for redemption from their earlier match, Troy came back strong to earn the 3-0 sweep over the Southern Jaguars. Both teams rallied back-and-forth for the entire first set. As Southern was one point from winning the game, the Trojans dug deep to win three straight points to earn the 27-25 set one win.

Southern took control of the second set early, but when it mattered most, the Trojans came together to tie the set at 20-20 to force the Jaguars to take a timeout. Two kills from Long ended 25-23 in the Trojans' favor.

While the team only posted a .067 average in the final set, its 16 kills was enough to keep the Jaguars at bay to improve to 5-8 on the season.

Long had another impressive outing with a team-high 12 kills, but it was newcomer Jenni Young who stepped up with 10 kills and four blocks, totaling 12 points.

UP NEXT
Troy will close out tournament play as it faces host team Alabama (9-2) Saturday at 1 p.m., before opening conference play on the road against UT Arlington and Texas State Sept. 22 and 24.

@AStateVB Takes Down Georgetown in Four
HOUSTON, Texas (9/15/17) – The Arkansas State volleyball team used a season-high 11 aces and out blocked Georgetown 9-1 in a 3-1 (24-26, 25-23, 25-19, 25-10) victory over the Hoyas to open the Rice adidas Invitational II Friday morning at Tudor Fieldhouse in Houston, Texas.

The 11 service aces for the Red Wolves (6-5) were the most since Nov. 2, 2014 when A-State registered 11 at Louisiana-Lafayette. Kenzie Fields led the team with three aces, while Peyton Uhlenhake, Lindsay Cline, and Tatum Ticknor each had two. The nine blocks for the team were tied for third most this season with Jessica Uke tying a season high with five as A-State improved to 10-3 all-time against schools currently in the Big East.

A-State hit .268 and held Georgetown (6-4) to a .165 hitting percentage. Drew Jones led the team with 18 kills, while Fields posted her second double-double of the season with 37 assists and 17 digs. Ticknor led the squad with 19 digs, while Timber Terrell and Jones each totaled three blocks. Symone Speech led the Hoyas with 15 kills on a .438 attacking percentage.

“We had a great week of practice,” A-State head volleyball coach David Rehr said. “We emphasized serving in practice all week and promised them cookies as part of our meal if we got aces so we owe them a lot of cookies. Georgetown is a good squad and played us tough those first two sets, but we responded really well after that.”

The match began with a very back-and-forth set one with the teams finding themselves tied 20-20 and then 24-24. However, Georgetown won two straight points on attack errors by the Red Wolves to claim the set 26-24. The second set was similar before the Red Wolves went in front 18-15 on a Nicole Knight service ace. A-State extended the advantage to 24-20 before Georgetown came back with a 3-0 run to make it 24-23. After a timeout, Carlisa May gave A-State the set 25-23 with a kill.

With the match tied 1-1, Arkansas State began the third set strongly by jumping out to a 10-6 lead to force a Hoyas’ timeout. The Red Wolves pushed ahead by as many as seven at 20-13 after a kill by Jones and went on to win game three 25-19. Set four started out with both teams splitting the first 10 points, but A-State went ahead at 6-5 on a block by Fields and Uke and didn’t look back. GU made the score 21-10 on a kill by Speech, but four straight A-State points sealed a 25-10 set four win.

Arkansas State returns to action later today with a 6 p.m. match against host Rice.

Cajuns Split Pair of Matches at Chicago State Invite
CHICAGO – The Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns Volleyball team came away with a split in action on the opening day of the Chicago State Invitational at the Jacoby Dickens Center.

The Ragin' Cajuns (5-7) fired away at a .344 clip in besting host-Chicago State 3-1 (25-17, 25-14, 22-25, 25-13) to start the day. In the nightcap, the squad was limited to a .067 hitting percentage and fell to Wright State in three sets (19-25, 23-25, 17-25).

Louisiana posted at least 15 kills in all three set victories over CSU (7-5) and totaled 60 in the match. The squad was held below a .100 hitting percentage for only the third time this season in the loss to WSU (5-7).

Graduate senior setter Jessica Bartczyszyn, who hails from Cary, Ill., played a collegiate match in her home state for the first time in her career.

LEADING THE RAGIN' CAJUNS
Stacey Reilly (Sr., OH, Houston, Texas) and Dree'Ana Abram (So., MB, Marshall, Texas) both tallied 13 kills in leading a quartet of Cajuns in double figures against Chicago State. Hali Wisnoskie (Fr., OH, Columbus, Texas) landed 12 kills and Nia Antoine (Jr., MB, Lafayette, La.) added 10 kills.

Bartczyszyn handed out 50 assists in helping lead Louisiana to its second-highest hitting percentage of the season. She reached 50 for the second time this season and XX time her career.

Sydney Davis (Jr., LB, Baton Rouge, La.) scooped a season-high 27 digs and Avery Breaux (Fr., S, Scott, La.) joined her in double digits with 13. The Cajuns out-dug the Cougars, 71-54.

Abram and Antoine each posted four blocks in leading Louisiana to an 8-7 advantage in the match.

Reilly was the leader in kills against Wright State, adding nine more to her total on the day. Davis collected a match-high in digs once again with her 19 leading all players in the contest with the Raiders.

MILESTONE REACHED
Reilly picked up her 1,000th career dig during the Chicago State contest. She becomes the first outside hitter to reach the mark in the rally scoring era (2001-present).

UP NEXT
Louisiana concludes its stay in Chicago with a 2 p.m. match on Saturday against Eastern Michigan.

HOW IT HAPPENED
CHICAGO STATE: After recovering from an early deficit in the first set, the Cajuns utilized back-to-back blocks to trigger a 5-0 run that opened an 18-12 lead and solidified the win. Louisiana collected the first five points of the second set and thanks to a .500 hitting percentage in the frame were never threatened. The Cougars made an early lead hold up in the third set and extended the match. After the Cajuns trimmed the host's lead to 13-12, CSU collected a sideout and took advantage of three straight miscues by the visitors to open a 17-12 lead. Louisiana hit .438 in the fourth set enabling the team to pull away and seal the match.

WRIGHT STATE: Kills from Bartczyszyn and Reilly gave the Cajuns an 8-4 lead in the opening set. Wright State, which hit .382 in the set, used an 8-2 spurt to take the lead for good. There were nine ties and four lead changes in the second set. Louisiana led 17-14 after Chynna Brooks kill, but four unanswered put the Raiders ahead. WSU fought off two ties late to open a 2-0 advantage. The Cajuns offense was unable to get untracked in the third set, committing nine errors and hitting -.025 in the defeat.

QUICK HITS
- Both matches marked the first-ever meeting between the Ragin' Cajuns and the opposition.

- Dree'Ana Abram hit a season-best .550 (13 K, 2 E, 20 TA) in the Chicago State contest. She hit double digits in kills for the first time since the season opener vs. Tulane.

- Hali Wisnoskie's 12 kills vs. Chicago State marked the freshman outside hitter's fifth match with double digits.

- Stacey Reilly's 22 kills on the day increased her career tally to 857. Already having reached 1,000 career digs, she's steadily working her way to a 1,000-1,000 career.

- Sydney Davis, who scooped 46 digs combined over both matches, ended the day averaging nearly seven digs per set. She increased her season digs average to 4.59 per set.

- Louisiana's .344 hitting percentage vs. Chicago State was the second-best performance of the season, trailing only the .460 performance vs. Mississippi Valley (Sept. 2).

- The Ragin' Cajuns returned to form in serve receive, committing only two reception errors over seven sets on Friday. In the team's last outing vs. Mississippi State, the Bulldogs posted 11 service aces.

Trojans Begin Billiken Invitational with 3-0 Victory
ST. LOUIS – The Billiken Invitational began on a great note for Little Rock volleyball as it swept Louisiana Tech with a 3-0 win (29-27, 25-14, 25-15) on Friday afternoon in Chaifetz Pavilion on the campus of Saint Louis University.

Marina Avram led the Trojans (4-6) with 13 kills while hitting .414 with eight digs. Veronica Marin had a match-high .556 hitting percentage with 10 kills and five block assists. Setter Taylor Lindberg set the tempo for Little Rock with 35 assists to go along with two aces, four digs, three block assists and two kills. Sydnee Martin scooped up 16 digs while Mya Robinson tallied a career-high 11 digs with seven kills.

Gina Cortesi and Madeline Davis each tallied nine kills for the Lady Techsters (4-7) while libero Jacie McClure dug up 16 digs.

Little Rock completed the three-set sweep as it led the entirety of the third frame. With a 14-11 lead, the Trojans went on a seven-point run to take a 21-11 lead. The Lady Techsters went on a 4-2 run but kills by Daisha Gillard and Maritza Mesa put the match away. Little Rock had more kills (15-6), assists (13-6) and digs (18-16) than Louisiana Tech in the final set.

After starting the second set with a four-point deficit, Little Rock took the lead at 13-12 with a five-point run. Louisiana Tech tied the set at 13 on a Trojan service error, but Little Rock rallied with a 12-1 run to take the set. The Trojans ended the set on a nine-point run as Nedima Kamberovic served up two aces during the rally. Little Rock outhit Louisiana Tech .481 to .133 as the Trojans put down 14 kills on 27 attempts with only one error. Avram and Marin each tallied five kills for the set while Lindberg had 13 assists. Martin had 13 digs for the frame while Marin put up four block assists.

Little Rock took set point at 24-20 in the first set, but Louisiana Tech battled back to take the lead at 25-24 thanks to five consecutive points. The two sides exchanged blows until tying for the final time at 27. The Trojans finally put the set away with two consecutive kills from Robinson. Avram had five kills with a team-high .400 hitting percentage while Lindberg had 11 assists.

Mesa finished the match with five kills, an ace, four digs and one block assist, and Gillard had seven kills with three total blocks.

The Trojans hit .283 for the match with 44 kills, 40 assists, eight aces, 45 digs and eight total blocks. The Lady Techsters hit .106 with 30 kills, 28 assists, five aces, 45 digs and four blocks.

Little Rock will continue the Billiken Invitational on Saturday as it faces host Saint Louis at noon and DePaul at 4:30 p.m.