University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Southern Miss
Nicholls State
Volleyball Claims Jaguar Classic Title
9/13/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Sept. 13, 2009
 Caitlin Clarke  | |
 Lauren Sears | |
The Golden Eagles improve to 10-1 on the season and Nicholls State dropped to 3-7.
Caitlin Clarke and Ashley Mell recorded nine kills each with Lauren Sears tallying seven. Lisa Knecht led the defensive efforts for Southern Miss registering 12 digs followed by Angela Hlavaty and Maia Ivanova with 10 each.
Both teams battled back-and-forth early to open the first set. Nicholls led 7-6 when Southern Miss got three consecutive blocks against the Colonels to go up 9-7. Southern Miss extended its lead to four, 14-10, before Nicholls fought its way back using a 10-4 run that put the Colonels ahead, 20-18. Following a Southern Miss time out, the Golden Eagles closed out the set on a 7-1 run for the 25-21 win.
Nicholls scored the first three points to open the second set, but Southern Miss rallied back to tie the set at 7-7. From there, the Golden Eagles scored five straight points for the 12-7 lead. The Colonels began to struggle offensively, committing 11 attack errors to hit only -.185. Southern Miss put down nine kills with only one attack error en route to a 25-14 win.
Southern Miss battled from a 6-3 deficit early in the third set using a 10-3 run for a 13-9 lead. Nicholls couldn't get back on track offensively in dropping the final set, 25-17.
Kelsea Seymour was voted the MVP of the Classic while Sears and Clarke earned all-tournament honors. The remaining all-tournament selections went to Olivia Mohler and Hristina Markova of South Alabama and Rachel Yezak of Nicholls.
Southern Miss returns to action Sept. 15 when the Golden Eagles travel to Monroe, La., for a match against ULM.
