South Alabama 3, Lamar 0 (.pdf)

NEW ORLEANS – The University of South Alabama volleyball team used a balanced offensive attack Friday afternoon as five players finished with seven or more kills in the Jaguars’ 3-0 victory (26-24, 25-22, 25-17) over Lamar on the opening day of the Kathy Trosclair Memorial Tournament hosted by Tulane University at Fogleman Arena.

“I thought Katariina (Kananen) did a good job of spreading our offense out to four of our five hitters,” South Alabama head coach Nicole Keshock said.  “I thought our hitters really did a great job.  We have kind of been working on finishing points.  Maureen (Ros) and Valerie (Podczasy) coming off the bench really had great nights for us.” 

With the win, South Alabama evens its record to 5-5 on the season, while Lamar drops its 12-straight match and falls to 1-13.  The Jaguars will return to action on Saturday for a pair of matches beginning with Belmont at 1 p.m. followed by Tulane at 7 p.m.

“Both of the teams we will play tomorrow will be a little bit different,” Keshock said.  “Against Belmont, we will have to have good timing on our block.  I think trying to slow down their offense will be a key for us.  The same thing goes for Tulane.  We didn’t block well tonight until the third set, so I hope we come out tomorrow doing a little bit better job than we did at the start of our match today.” 

Leading the balance offensive effort for the Jaguars was freshman outside hitter Maureen Ros who tied a season-high with 11 kills.  Ros registered those 11 kills on 17 attacks and did not commit an error for a season-best .647 attack percentage – fifth-highest in a match in program history.  Valerie Podczasy was also a big contributor off the bench chipping in a career-high 10 kills and finishing with a .318 attack percentage.  Olivia Mohler added nine kills, Melissa Waelter had eight and Lea Thurm had seven of her own. 

One of the main reasons for the balanced scoring for USA was due to the play of junior setter Katariina Kananen.  Kananen ended the night with 42 assists – the fifth-highest tally in a three set match at South Alabama.  She also added three aces and eight digs.

Waelter and sophomore libero Jenna Hassell each added a match-high 12 digs for USA.

As a team, South Alabama ended the night with 49 kills on 103 attacks, while committing just 12 errors for season-high .359 percentage.

Lamar was led on the offensive side of the net by Cynthia McCollum’s nine kills.  Sierra Whittaker added seven kills of her own. 

SET ONE: South Alabama 26, Lamar 24

In the opening set, South Alabama trailed by three early on, but the Jaguars chipped away at the deficit and tied the contest up at 8-8 on a kill from Samia Salomao.  After trading the next four points, USA broke a 10-all tie when the Jaguars pushed across five of the next six points and grabbed a 15-11 advantage when Mohler slammed home a kill. 

With South Alabama still holding a four-point lead (17-13) following another Salomao kill, Lamar answered right back with seven unanswered points.  Lamar’s Christina Hobbs tied the set back up at 17-17 and the Cardinals retook the lead on the very next point after a Jaguar attack error.  Hobbs later teamed up with Alex Morford for a block to cap the run off and put LU out in front, 20-17. 

Trailing by two at 22-20, Podczasy and Ros each recorded a kill to tie the set back up and with the score later knotted up 24-24 in extra points, USA’s Waelter slammed home back-to-back kills to put the Jaguars up 1-0 in the match with the 26-24 first-set victory.

SET TWO: South Alabama 25, Lamar 22

In set two, both clubs remained close throughout with neither allowing the other to game more that a two-point advantage over the other, but with the set tied at 21-21, USA was able to break through and push across three straight points.  The Jags sat just one point away from taking the frame after a pair of Cardinal errors and a kill from Ros. Megan McStravick briefly ended the scoring for Lamar, but Mohler blasted her sixth kill of the match on the next point to give USA the 25-22 second set win and go up two sets to none.

For the second consecutive set, the Jaguar offense posted 18 kills and this time it was very efficient, finishing the set with a .484 hitting percentage.  In 31 attempts, USA committed just three errors during the frame.

SET THREE: South Alabama 25, Lamar 17

Like the previous sets, both teams remained close for a majority of the frame with neither gaining more than a two point lead on the other.  With the score tied at 13-13, the Jaguars used a 8-2 spurt over the next 10 points to grab the lead for good and take control.  Kananen capped off the run with her third ace of the match to give USA a 21-15 advantage.  From there, South Alabama maintained its momentum and closed the match out with the 25-17 victory.

Ros and Podczasy led the way in the third set, each registering four kills apiece.

For the second-straight set, the Jaguar offense was firing on all cylinders as it finished the frame with a .458 hitting percentage (13-2-24).  USA stiffened up at the net as it recorded all eight of its blocks in the final set.  LU was unable to get anything going on offense, struggling with a -.031.

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).

NOTES:  South Alabama’s Maureen Ros’ .647 attack percentage (11-0-17) was the fifth-best in a match in the program’s history.  Jaguar setter Katariina Kananen’s 42 sets were also fifth-highest for a three-set match in school history.  The win versus Lamar was the first for the Jags over the Cardinals.  USA had been 0-10 in its previous 10 attempts.  South Alabama has now won the opening match in each of its last three tournaments.  The 5-5 mark is the first time South Alabama has been at .500 this season.

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