Volleyball Defeats Georgia State 3-0
The South Alabama volleyball team defeated Georgia State on Sunday 3-0 (25-18, 25-14, 25-18) in straight sets. The win improves the Jaguars record to 7-5 overall and 2-0 in conference play while Georgia State falls to 3-9 overall and 1-2 in conference play.
Abby Baker led the team with 11 digs while Mechell Daniel led the way with 11 kills. Emily Hundt had 20 assists to go along with nine digs.
Next the Jaguars will travel to San Marcos, Texas to face the Texas State Bobcats on Thursday, September 25 at 6:30pm.
Jags Down ULL In Volleyball Conference Opener
The South Alabama Jaguar volleyball team started their Sun Belt Conference schedule with a 3-2 (25-23, 17-25, 25-14, 17-25, 16-14) win over ULL on the road.
Jessica Lewis led the team with 17 kills and two solo blocks. Mechell Daniel posted her fifth double-double of the season with 14 kills and 13 digs. Nikki Gittens tied a career high with 12 kills and led the team with five total blocks, one solo, as well as two service aces. Mallory Moore added 10 kills. Emily Hundt recorded her fourth double-double of the season with 44 assists and 10 digs.
SBC Defensive Player of the Week Abby Baker posted 25 digs.
The loss was the first for the Ragin’ Cajuns who are 10-1 on the season and 0-1 in Conference play. Meanwhile the Jags improve to 6-5 on the season and 1-0 in Conference play. They return to Mobile to host Georgia State on Sunday in a noon time match in Jag Gym.
Jaguar Volleyball’s Baker Earns SBC Defensive Player of the Week Honor
Abby Baker, a sophomore from Fayetteville, Georgia, was named the Defensive Player of the Week for her performance in the Maroon Classic over the weekend. | Photo: John Adams usajaguars.com
Sophomore libero/defensive specialist Abby Baker was named the Sun Belt Conference Defensive Player of the Week on Monday by the Conference office for the first time in her career.
Baker helped the Jaguars to a 3-1 record at the Maroon Classic over the weekend as she had 81 digs for a 6.23 digs per set average in four matches. She did not commit a reception error in the 54 times she was served.
She ranks sixth in the conference in digs with 3.80 per set.
Baker is the first Jaguar to earn a defensive honor since Jenna Hassell on September 10, 2012 and only the third recipient of the honor is South Alabama history.
Baker and the Jags will return to action on Wednesday as they open conference play at Louisiana-Lafayette. They will then return home to host Georgia State on Sunday.
Jags Win Three Of Four In Maroon Classic
Sophomore Mechell Daniel earned her third and fourth double-double of the season in the Maroon Classic in back-to-back 14 kill and 14 dig performances. Photo by Brad Puckett | usajaguars.com
The South Alabama volleyball team won three out of four matches in the Maroon Classic in Starkville, Mississippi over the weekend.
The Maroon Classic began with the Jags defeating Mississippi State 3-0 (25-19, 25-18, 25-14) on Thursday evening behind Mechell Daniel’s double-double, her third of the season.
This was the Jags first-ever win on the Bulldogs’ home court and the first for the Jags since 1987 where they defeated them in the Southern Miss Invitational.
On Friday, the Jags defeated Northwestern State 3-1 (25-22, 23-25, 25-15, 25-15) behind Sophomore Abby Baker’s 34 digs and two aces and Daniel’s second-consecutive and fourth overall double-double with 14 kills and 14 digs. Emily Hundt earned 45 assists and eight digs as well.
Finally, on Saturday, the Jags split two matches to end the Maroon Classic with a 3-1 record.
Agianst Nicholls State the Jags won 3-0 (25-17, 26-24, 25-16) behind Mallory Moore’s 13 kills with a .545 hitting percentage and only one error in her 22 attempts. Redshirt sophomore Nikki Gittens also added 11 kills and .471 hitting percentage as well.
In the second match of the day, the Jags fell to Memphis 3-0 (16-25, 16-25, 17-25). Jags committed nine of its 20 attack errors in the first set and could not get on track against the Tigers.
For their play over the weekend, Emily Hundt and Nikki Gittens were named to the Maroon Classic All-Tournament team.
The Jags (5-5) will open Sun Belt Conference play on Wednesday when they travel to Louisiana-Lafayette.
Jaguar Volleyball Take Two of Three At Cowgirl Classic
The South Alabama volleyball team took two out of three in the Cowgirl Classic over the weekend.
Friday the Jaguars split a pair of matches with the first a straight set loss to Wyoming where the Jags struggled on offense by hitting only .050 and committing 24 attack errors while the Cowgirls hit .320 in the match. Wyoming improved to 5-0 on the season.
Jessica Lewis led the match with 16 kills which tied a season high for the sophomore.
In the second of two matches on Friday, The Jags picked up its first win of the season by defeating Montana 3-2 (25-22, 24-26, 27-25, 25-22, 15-8).
The All-Conference duo of Mechell Daniel and Lewis led the way for USA. Daniel led all players with a match-best 24 kills and 11 digs for her second double-double of the season. He had a .352 hitting percentage. Lewis added 20 kills.
On Saturday, the trio of Daniel, Lewis and Mallory Moore helped lead the Jaguars past Ball State in a straight set victory (25-15, 25-18, 25-20). Lewis and Daniel led the Jags with 10 kills each with Moore adding nine and a .519 hitting percentage. Emily Hundt posted 32 assists against the Cardinals after a career-high 65 assists on Friday night.
Lewis and Daniel were selected to the All-Tournament team. The Jags (2-4) will travel to Starkville, MS for the Maroon Classic on September 11-13. The Jags will open against the Bulldogs on Thursday at 7pm.
Jag Volleyball Comes Up Short In ASICS Classic
The South Alabama Jaguar volleyball team got started on their 2014 schedule over the weekend at the ASICS Classic in Malibu, California. Their matches were close, but the Jags just could not get over the hump in several sets over the weekend.
They opened the weekend with a straight set loss to Pepperdine (22-25, 23-25, 17-25). Mechell Daniel led the Jags with 11 kills whiel Nikki Gittens added six and Jessica Lewis and Symone Stephenson both added five. Emily Hundt earned her first double-double of the season with 16 assista, a match-best, and 12 digs. Jenna Hassel, returning fron an injury, recorded a match-high 15 digs while Emma Anderson added 14 assists.
The Jags had a 48-36 advantage in digs, but Pepperdine had nearly twice as many service aces as the Jags (11-6). They also limited the Jags to a .107 hitting percentage.
Pepperdine led 7-6 in the first set when the Jags scored six consecutive points, but the Wave scored six in a row themselves to get back into the set. The teams were tied at 22 when a kill by Pepperdine led to three straight points to give them the 1-0 advantage.
They continued that streak in the next set by opening with six of the first seven points of the match, half of them coming from Samantha Cash on aces. Trailing 16-10, the Jags responded with four consecutive kills from Hundt, Daniel and Mallory Moore to close within two points at 18-16. Pepperdine would later take the set with a kill to take a 2-0 advantage.
The Jags jumped out to a 4-2 lead in the final set on Hassell’s ace and kills by Daniel and Moore. Evening the match at 13, the two teams exchanged points before the Wave took advantage of three errors and a kill from Olivia Okoro to go up by four points. They would then cruise to the end of the set to take the match 3-0.
On Saturday the Jags fell twice, first to Oral Roberts 1-3 then to Nevada 1-3 to round out their weekend.
Against Oral Roberts, redshirt senior libero Jenna Hassell moved into third place on the Jagaur career digs list with 1,289 all-time in the two losses. Sophomore outside hitter Jessica Lewis combined for 28 kills on Saturday as well.
The Jags will return to action this weeke with three matches at the University of Wyoming Classic where they face Wyoming, Montana and Ball State in Laramie, Wyoming.
Jaguar Volleyball Picked Fifth; Daniel Earns Preseason All-SBC Honors
Sophomore Mechell Daniel was named to the preseason All-Sun Belt team as the Jaguars were voted to finish fifth in the conference this season. Photo by Brad Puckett | usajaguars.com
South Alabama’s Mechell Daniel is starting off this season as she left off last season, earning conference honors.
Daniel, a sophomore from Chelmsford, England, was named to the Sun Belt Conference preseason All-Conference team earlier this week. Last season as a true freshman, Daniel was one of the top players in the Sun Belt as she ranked third in kills (423, 3.81 per set) and points (4.33 per set). She was named the Sun Belt Freshman of the week four times, offensive player of the week, Freshman of the Year and earning first-team All-Conference honors.
Her 423 kills last season was the most ever by a freshman at USA and the sixth most in a single season. She had 24 double-figure kill matches including four 20-plus kills in a match. She recorded 14 double-doubles on the season with 13 coming in conference play and a streak of nine-consecutive.
The Jaguar volleyball team was voted to finish fifth in the conference this season with one first-place vote. Arkansas-Little Rock was selected to win the conference with four first place votes.
Team (First place votes) – Points
1. Arkansas-Little Rock (4) – 110
2. Texas State (3) – 99
3. Georgia Southern (2) – 95
4. Texas-Arlington – 83
5. South Alabama (1) – 76
6. Louisiana-Lafayette (1) – 63
7. Appalachian State – 62
8. Arkansas State – 58
9. Troy – 41
10. Georgia State – 28
11. Louisiana-Monroe – 11
Jaguar Volleyball Announces Addition To Coaching Staff
Faith Steinwedell played three seasons at Mississippi State and Cal Baptist and joins the Jaguar coaching staff for the 2014 season. | photo: usajaguars.com
South Alabama volleyball head coach Amy Hendrichovsky announced an addition to her coaching staff on Monday. Faith Steinwedell has joined the team as an assistant coach with her duties including defensive game-planning, scouting and coordinating team travel, Alumni relations and heading up community outreach.
Steinwedell is a native of El Cajon, California where she was a two-time All-Conference and All-League standout at Santa Fe Christian School in Solana Beach, California. She was part of two state championships in 2005 and 2007 and also district titles from 2004-2007. She earned a third-team Untion Times All-San Diego honors and First-Team All-Coastal North League honors in both her junior and senior seasons.
She began her collegiate career at Mississippi State where she had to work through two knee injuries yet still managed to play three seasons for the Bulldogs. Prior to the 2011 and 2012 seasons she was named team captain and ended her career with 493 kills, 559 digs and 162 blocks. She continued her excellent work in the classroom by earning Southeastern Conference Academic Honor Roll each year from 2008-2012. She was also one of four MSU players to earn SEC Freshman Academic Honors in 2008 and President’s Scholar as a sophomore with a 4.0 GPA.
She then moved to Cal Baptist in Riverside, California where she started all 26 matches in which she played and ranked third on the team in digs (256), total blocks (56), fourth on the team in hitting percentage (.267) and also had 217 kills. During her only season with the Lancers she was selected both 2012 All-PacWest Honorable mention and second-team NCCAA West All-Region while also earning 2012-2013 PacWest Conference Academic All-Conference honors.
Steinwedell earned her bachelors of science degree in kinesiology for sport pedagogy from Mississippi State in 2011 and her master’s degree in kinesiologoy for sports management from Cal Baptist in 2012.
The Jaguars open in the Asics Classic in Malibu, California on August 29 and 30 when they face Pepperdine, Nevada and Oral Roberts in two days. For the full schedule visit the Jaguar Volleyball site here.
The Jags had a trio of freshmen in Mallory Moore, Jessica Lewis and Mechell Daniel who earned numerous Freshmen of the Week honors. Daniel also earned Offensive Player of the week honors, only the fourth Jaguar to earn that honor in program history. Daniel was chosen as the SBC Freshman of the Year, only the second player in program history to earn an individual award, and First-Team All-Conference honors. Lewis also earned Second-Team All-SBC honors.
Welcome to Mobile coach Steinwedell! Go Jags!
Jaguar Student-Athletes Honored At 5th Annual Pete Tolbert Night Of Champions
Several student-athletes were honored during the Fifth Annual Pete Tolbert Night of Champions, the athletic department’s event to honor the achievements of nearly 400 individuals on Thursday evening.
Junior pitcher Farish Beard of Fairhope, Alabama and senior quarterback Ross Metheny of Stephens City, Virginia were name the female and male Student-Athletes of the Year. This honors the most outstanding individuals based on scholarship, athletic ability and citizenship.
Along with Beard, Hannah Campbell and Kaitlyn Griffith were also honored from the softball team. Metheny was joined by teammates Trey Fetner, Bryson James and Alex Page from the football team. Noelle Jones, Garrett Schumacher and Derek Westbrook were honored from the Track and Field teams.
Several others were honored including just to name a few: Caroline Beebe, Mechell Daniel, Nini Rabsatt-Smith, Sharmyn Wall, Matt Bolger, Brandon Bridge, Robby Campbell, Michelena D’Alonzo and Kristin Parry.
Beard has recorded better than a 3.2 GPA in two-plus years at USA. This season she has a 18-5 record, a 0.99 ERA, 174 strikeouts in 127.1 innings and ranks in the top 20 nationally in four statistical categories.
Metheny has a 4.0 GPA and is working on his master’s degree in educational leadership. Last season he led the Sun Belt Conferecne in total offense per game with 269 yards, ranked in the top 10 in the conference in three other categories and finished in the top 50 nationally in total offense, pass efficiency rating, and passing yards. He was also selected to the second-team All-SBC team.
A full rundown off all the awards and their recipients can be found here.
Also, 56 current and former student-athletes were recognized as they will graduate at the end of the semester.
Congratulations Jaguars!
USA Volleyball’s Season Ends In Quarterfinals Of SBC Tournament
The Jaguar volleyball team saw it’s season come to an end in the quarterfinals of the Sun Belt Championships on Thursday. Texas-Arlington defeated the Jags 3-0 (18-25, 23-25, 21-25) to advance to the semifinal round.
The Jaguars finish the season with a 14-15 record, the most wins since 1995, and making it to the conference tournament after beginning the season with an 0-5 conference record and a 1-7 record through their first eight conference games. They fought hard down the stretch to earn a #5 seed to the conference tournament.
UT-Arlington improves to 18-14 on the season and will face #8 seeded Troy who upset #1 seeded Western Kentucky 3-0.
Mechell Daniel ends her freshman season with 423 kills, the most by a Jaguar freshman and sixth most in single season history. Fellow freshman phenom Jessica Lewis fell short of her third double-double of the season as they ended the match with 13 kills and nine digs.
Another freshman, Abby Baker, finished with 14 digs for the Jags as well.
Jenna Hassell is the only listed senior on the team. She missed the season with a knee injury. She ranks fourth in USA’s career digs list with 1,242 and leads the program in career digs average with 3.76.
JagNation is proud of what the Volleyball team has accomplished this season. They turned around a tough season that was hampered by injuries and made it to the conference tournament. Thank you ladies for your hard work this season and we look forward to next season.
Go Jags!