USA Volleyball Split Weekend Matches To End Regular Season
The South Alabama Jaguar Women’s Volleyball team split a pair of weekend matches to round out the regular season.
On Friday, the Jags nearly upset the conference leading Western Kentucky in Bowling Green, Kentucky. Freshman Jessica Lewis recorded a career-high 20 kills along with 10 digs for her second career double-double.
The Jags took the match to five games but could not get come away with the win in the last set. Though it did break a nine-consecutive straight-set match wins for the hilltoppers and only the second SBC team to push them to five sets this season.
On Sunday, the Jags closed out the regular season with a 3-1 win on the road against Georgia State to even their overall and conference records.
With the win, the Jags (14-14, 9-9 SBC) clinch the fifth seed in the conference tournament starting next week in Troy, Alabama.
Mechell Daniel led the Jags with 18 kills and 12 digs for her 14th double-double this season with 13 of them coming against Sun Belt foes. Lewis also had 15 kills while Mallory Moore had 10 kills.
Freshman libero Abby Baker had a career day with 26 digs.
Georgia State’s season ends with a 9-23 overall record and a 4-14 record in SBC play.
The Jags will play #4 seeded Texas-Arlington (17-14, 10-8 SBC) in the first round of the SBC Championships in Troy. The match is set to begin at 5pm on Thursday night. This is the Jags first appearance in the tournament since the 2010 season and only the fourth since 2000.
Live stats and web streaming of matches will be available through the conference website. The winner between the Jags and the Mavericks will face the winner of the match between #1 seeded Western Kentucky and #8 seeded host Troy. They play after the Jags at 7:30pm.
Go Jags!
USA Volleyball’s Daniel Earns More SBC Weekly Honors And Makes History
Freshman Mechell Daniel was named Sun Belt Freshman of the Week for the fourth time this season. This is the sixth consecutive week a Jaguar has earned the honor. She also made Sun Belt History by being the first honoree to earn Freshman of the Week and Offensive Player of the Week honors in the same week. Photo by Brad Puckett | usajaguars.com
Mechell Daniel made history on Monday when she earned both Sun Belt Offensive Player of the Week and Sun Belt Freshman Player of the Week honors. She is only the fifth Jaguar to earn the offensive player of the week honor.
This is the fourth time Daniel has been named the freshman player of the week and marks the sixth-consecutive week the honor went to a South Alabama Jaguar. This is the first time Daniel has been named the offensive player of the year in her Jaguar career.
In helping to lead the Jaguars to a perfect 3-0 record this week and clinching a berth in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament, she recorded a pair of double-doubles and just narrowly missing a third against Troy. For the season she has 12 double-doubles with 11 of them coming against Conference teams.
The Chelmsford, England native currently ranks third in the conference in kills (3.83) and points (4.36), and is tied for sixth in service aces (0.25).
USA Women’s Volleyball will conclude their regular season on the road this weekend with matches at Western kentucky on Friday and Georgia State on Sunday. They will then prepare for the Sun Belt Conference Championships the following weekend at Troy University.
USA Women’s Volleyball Team Clinched SBC Tournment Spot With Win Over ULM
The University of South Alabama women’s Volleyball team clinched a berth in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament with a 3-0 win over Louisiana-Monroe on Sunday afternoon at Jag Gym. This will be the program’s first berth since the 2010 season and their 17th overall.
The Jags (13-13 overall, 8-8 SBC) will finish out the regular season next weekend with matches against Sun Belt leader Western Kentucky on Friday and Georgia State on Sunday.
The win on Sunday marks the sixth win of it’s last seven matches to bring momentum into the final week of the regular season. USA is currently in a three-way tie with Lousiana-Lafayette and Texas-Arlington for fourth place in the conference.
Freshman Mechell Daniel earned her 12th double-double of the season with 10 kills and 13 digs, this is her 11th against Sun Belt Conference foes. Fellow Freshman Jessica Lewis finished with seven kills and 17 attacks. Mallory Moore, also a freshman, added six kills as well.
ULM fell to 6-26 overall and 2-14 in Sun Belt play.
“I think this is the first time during the conference season that we controlled the match pretty much the whole time,” Jaguar head coach Amy Hendrichovsky stated after the match. “Towards the end of the third set, we made a little change to the lineup and lost a few points, but for the most part, we controlled the match the whole time. Our team was able to be mature and come out with the same focus and same intensity after each break, so that was good to see.”
“Going into this season, it was a goal for us to make the conference tournament, but with the way we are playing right now, we’ve set higher goals,” Hendrichovsky continued. “It’s nice that we didn’t barely get in or back our way in. We actually won our way in and we’re hoping for a decent seed. It could be anybody’s game once you get in the tournament. We’ll now focus on these next two matches and look to gain some momentum.”
The Sun Belt tournament will be held at Troy University on November 21 through November 23.
Jaguar Soccer Wins First-Ever Sun Belt Conference Championship
The University of South Alabama Women’s Soccer team pose after wining their first-ever Sun Belt Conference Championship by defeating Western Kentucky 1-0 on Sunday in San Marcos, Texas. | sunbeltsports.org
The University of South Alabama Women’s Soccer Team clinched their first-ever Sun Belt Conference Championship by defeating Western Kentucky at Bobcat Soccer Complex in San Marcos, Texas.
Lauren Allison, who scored her 16th goal on the year and her second of the tournament, was named the 2013 Sun Belt Most Outstanding Player.
Allison, Melissa Drish, Clarissa Hernandez, Nini Rabsatt-Smith and Shelby Owen were all named to the All-SBC Tournament team after the win.
The Jags (14-5-5, 5-2-1 SBC) advances to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history. The Jags opponent and where they will play will be announced today, November 11 at 3:30pm (CT) on NCAA.com. The tournament will begin next week.
In the 20th minute of the match, Allison scored on a breakaway by driving past multiple Lady Topper defenders to receive Morgan Motes’ pass. The Jags avenged a 1-0 loss to the Toppers late in the regular season though they were outshot 16-14 in the match and 11-5 in the second half.
WKU got their best looks came in the first half from freshman Haley Baldridge and sophomore Alanna Clancey. They both had shots blocked from the right corver of the box to preserve the win.
“This is a great feeling,” said first-year head coach Graham Winkworth, who also collected his first Division I conference title. “This was some excellent passing soccer, the best all season. And the girls defended magnificently today. We’re going to enjoy every moment of this and the rest of our season.”
South Alabama will host a selection show party at Heroe’s Sports Bar & Grill on Hillcrest near Old Shell from 3-5PM.
The 2013 Women’s Soccer College Cup will play on five seperate dates. The First round is scheduled for November 15, 16 or 17 at 32 different sites. The Second and Third rounds are scheduled for November 22, 24 at eight different sites. The Quarterfinals are scheduled for November 29, 30 or December 1 at four different locations. Then finally the Women’s College Cup will be held on December 6, 8 in Cary, North Carolina.
USA Women’s Soccer Advance To SBC Championship Match On Sunday
The South Alabama women’s soccer team celebrate an overtime shootout win in the semifinal match against Arkansas State in San Marcos Texas. They advance to the Championship Match on Sunday, November 10 at 1pm. | sunbeltsports.org
The championship match is set for the Sun Belt Conference Women’s Soccer Championship. The #2 seeded Jaguars defeated #6 seeded Arkansas State in an overtime shootout. Later, the #1 seeded Western Kentucky defeated #4 seeded host Texas State 1-0 to also advance.
Arkansas State struck first in the eighth minute when Samhia Simoa took a free kick pass from Ashley Jackson inside the 6-yard box and got it by Drish for the early 1-0 lead.
The Jags tied it up in the 21st minute when Lauren Allison collected a rebound after a shot deflected off of ASU Goalkeeper Amanda Lee and she was there to put it in the net for the tie.
Neither team would score the remainder of regulation and would go into overtime at a 1-1 gridlock. Then neither team could muster an attack in the first or second overtim periods which forced a shootout to determine who would advance.
In the shootout, both teams connected on 4-of-5 shots. South Alabama’s Jordan Duncan netted the first attempt to put the Jags up 5-4 then ASU senior Alex Furr answered by netting her own goal past USA’s Melissa Drish to tie it up again.
Jaguar Shawn Meach then scored again for the Jags as she placed her kick just out of reach of Lee to take the 6-5 lead. Then Drish stopped ASU’s Jenna Duerst’s attempt to secure the victory for the Jags.
South Alabama and Western Kentucky will face off in the Championship match on Sunday at 1pm (CT). The match will be aired on the Sun Belt Network, check your local listings for channel information.
Non-AQ Top 10 November 4, 2013
The top two spots are tightening up with only three points separating Fresno State and Northern Illinois.
The Ragin’ Cajun’s are the lone representative from the Sun Belt in the top 10 as they have moved up to a tie for sixth place with Ohio. Former Sun Belt team North Texas have broken into the top 10 in tenth place. Three other SBC teams received votes in the poll, but not enough to break the top 10. Those schools are Texas State, Louisiana-Monroe and Western Kentucky.
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Non-AQ Top 10
|
|||
|
RK
|
TEAM
|
RECORD
|
PTS
|
|
1
|
Fresno
State (8) |
8-0
|
114
|
|
2
|
Northern
Illinois (4) |
9-0
|
111
|
|
3
|
Brigham
Young |
6-2
|
96
|
|
4
|
Ball
State |
8-1
|
88
|
|
5
|
East
Carolina |
6-2
|
54
|
|
T-6
|
Ohio
|
6-2
|
43
|
|
T-6
|
Louisiana
|
6-2
|
43
|
|
8
|
Boise
State |
6-3
|
42
|
|
9
|
Buffalo
|
6-2
|
35
|
|
10
|
North
Texas |
6-3
|
11
|
Dropped from rankings: Tulane
Others receiving votes: Toledo 6, Bowling Green 6, Tulane 4,
Rice 4, Texas State 3, Marshall 2, Louisiana-Monroe 2, Western
Kentucky 2.
USA Soccer Faces ASU In Semifinals Of The Sun Belt Championships
The #2 seeded South Alabama Women’s Soccer team returns to action today when they face #6 seed Arkansas State at 4pm in San Marcos, Texas in the semifinals of the Sun Belt Championships.
The Jags defeated Georgia State 2-0 on Wednesday to advance to the semi’s. Arkansas State defeated the #3 seeded ULL Ragin’ Cajun’s to advance.
The Jags defeated ASU in October 2-0 in Jonesboro, Arkansas.
The winner will face the winner between #1 Western Kentucky and #4 Texas State in the championship match on Sunday at 1pm. That match will be aired on the Sun Belt Network.
Jaguar Soccer Advances To Semifinals Of SBC Championships
Clarissa Hernandez scored both goals in the Jaguars 2-0 win over Georgia State. They advance to play #6 seeded Arkansas State Friday at 4pm. | usajaguars.com
The Sun Belt Championships began in San Marcos, Texas on Wednesday. South Alabama kicked off the tournament with a 2-0 win over Georgia State.
South Alabama (13-5-2, 3-2-1 SBC) is the second seeded team in the tournament and earned their first postseason win since 2005. They advance to Friday’s semifinals where they will face the #6 seeded Arkansas State Red Wolves after they upset the #3 seeded UL-Lafayette 2-1.
The match took place during some harsh weather. They opened the game with a strong wind at their back and used it to their advantage as they outshot the Panthers eight to two. Panther’s goalkeeper made three stops before Hernandez netted a goal.
Hernandez then doubled the Jaguar lead just five minutes into the second period when she netted freshman Nikki Shirtcliffe’s free kick.
GSU did not go down easy as they produced 13 of the match’s final 14 shots but the Jaguar defense and senior goalkeeper Melissa Drish turned them all away as the Jags earned their eighth shutout of the year.
Hernandez moves into eighth place all-time in career points at South Alabama with her fifth and sixth goals of the season. With 53 points, she is just one shy of seventh place.
Also, Hernandez, Jess Oram and Shelby Owen all move into a tie for second place in games played at USA as each of them have 81 games each.
The Jags will face Arkansas State on Friday at 4pm. They defeated the Red Wolves 2-0 in Jonesboro, Arkansas back on October 6.
In the other side of the bracket, #4 seeded Texas State defeated #5 Troy 2-1 in overtime and will face #1 seed Western Kentucky, who defeated #8 seed Arkansas-Little Rock 2-1.
Jags Land Four On All-SBC Team; Allison Named Offensive Player And Freshman Of The Year
The University of South Alabama women’s soccer team had four student-athletes named to the All-Sun Belt Conference at the 2013 Women’s Soccer Awards Banquet on Tuesday. Also Lauren Allison was named the Offensive Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year.
Allison along with senior midfielder Clarissa Hernandez were named to the First-Team All-SBC team. Senior defenders Jess Oram and Shelby Owen were named to the second team. This marks the first time a Jaguar player has earned postseason All-Conference since 2008 and four selections are the most for the Jags since 2002.
Allison becomes the first student-athlete in Sun Belt History to win both the Offensive Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year honors in the same season.
Allison, a Bicester, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom native, finished the regular season with 39 points which ranks fourth-most in South Alabama’s single-season history. She had 14 goals and 11 assists. She led the Sun Belt in goals, goals per game, assists, assists per game and game-winning goals. She was twice named Sun Belt Conference Player of the Week. She also ranks in the Top 25 in the NCAA in six offensive categories including points per game (5th), total points (8th), total assists (12th), assists per game (12th), total goals (19th) and goals per game (19th).
Hernandez was a 2013 preseason All-SBC selection and performed as expected. The senior recorded five goals and assists. Hernandez was named to the CoSIDA/Capital One Academic All-District for the third year in a row.
Oran and Owen were the anchors in the Jaguar defense for the fourth consecutive year. They combined to keep seven opponents scoreless. The three seniors, Oram, Owen and Hernandez, could set a new South Alabama record for games played if they can advance to the Championship Match of the 2013 SBC Championships which begin today in San Marcos, Texas.
“I am delighted that these girls have been recognized by the coaches in the league,” said Jaguar head coach Graham Winkworth. “It is a huge honor to be an all-conference player in what is a league full of talent.”
“I am delighted for our three seniors: Riz, Jess and Shelby,” he continued. “They have been wonderful leaders in this squad and their work ethic since my arrival has been truly unbelievable. I am also very excited for Lauren. I knew from when I was recruiting her she would provide us with an additional threat up top and I cannot speak highly enough of her work for this team.”
“One of the greatest things about all these girls is that they always put their team first,” Winkworth concluded. “This team has worked magic over the last 10 months moving from number seven to number two in the league, and I am so proud of every one of them. They have also improved over 80 places in the NCAA RPI ratings. This team can really hold their heads very high with all they have achieved.”
South Alabama Soccer Earns #2 Seed For SBC Championships
The University of South Alabama women’s soccer team earned a #2 seed for the 2013 Sun Belt Conference Women’s Soccer Championship that begin on November 6 in San Marcos, Texas.
The Jags finished the season 12-5-2 overall and 5-2-1 in Sun Belt play. Regular season champ Western Kentucky finished the season with an 8-5-5 record overall and 6-2-0 record in Sun Belt play. WKU won the regular season with 18 points with the Jags finishing second with 16 points in a tie with third place UL-Lafayette but by virtue of winning their head-to-heat matchup, USA won the tiebreaker.
Additionally the Tournament Schedule was released and can be seen below. The Jags will open Tournament play against 7th seeded Georgia State (6-9-1, 4-4-0 SBC) at 10am on Wednesday, November 6. The Championship game will be held on 1pm on Sunday, November 10 and will be broadcast live on the Sun Belt Network.
2013 Sun Belt Conference Soccer Tournament Seeds
1. WKU (8-5-5, 6-2-0 SBC [18 pts])
2. South Alabama (12-5-2, 5-2-1 SBC [16 pts])
3. UL-Lafayette (8-6-3, 5-2-1 SBC [16 pts])
4. Texas State (7-8-2, 4-3-1 SBC [13 pts])
5. Troy (8-9-1, 4-3-1 SBC [13 pts])
6. Arkansas State (9-7-2, 4-4-0 SBC [12 pts])
7. Georgia State (6-9-1, 4-4-0 SBC [12 pts])
8. UALR (4-13-0, 1-7-0 SBC [3 pts])
2013 Sun Belt Conference Soccer Tournament Schedule of Events
Wednesday, November 6
MATCH 1 – 10 a.m. CT – No. 7 Georgia State vs. No. 2 South Alabama
MATCH 2 – 1 p.m. CT – No. 6 Arkansas State vs. No. 3 UL-Lafayette
MATCH 3 – 4 p.m. CT – No. 8 UALR vs. No. 1 WKU
MATCH 4 – 7 p.m. CT – No. 5 Troy vs. No. 4 Texas State
Friday, November 8
MATCH 5 – 4 p.m. CT – Game 1 Winner vs. Game 2 Winner
MATCH 6 – 7 p.m. CT – Game 3 Winner vs. Game 4 Winner
Championship Sunday, November 10
MATCH 7 – 1 p.m. CT – Game 5 Winner vs. Game 6 Winner (Broadcast Live on Sun Belt Network)
All times central