Saturday, September 24
Hattiesburg, Miss.
2 p.m.
Southern Miss
9-5,1-1Sun Belt
3
vs
2
South Alabama
7-7,1-1Sun Belt
1
2
3
4
5
F
South Alabama
25
23
22
25
14
2
Southern Miss.
19
25
25
12
16
3
Golden Eagles Outlast South Alabama in Five-Set Thriller
9/24/2022 6:05:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
HATTIESBURG, Miss. --Â With Friday night still fresh in the minds of the Southern Miss volleyball team, it wasted no time rewriting the script as the Golden Eagles (9-5, 1-1 Sun Belt) edged South Alabama (7-7, 1-1 Sun Belt) in five sets (19-25, 25-23, 25-22, 12-25, 16-14) on Saturday afternoon. The win in the Southern Miss Wellness Center was the first Sun Belt victory in program history and gave the Golden Eagles plenty to be happy about after knocking off the reigning Sun Belt Tournament champions.Â
"South Alabama is an outstanding team that is well coached," said Southern Miss head coach Jenny Hazelwood. "After losing last night and almost forcing a fifth set, then losing the first set today, I was really proud of how we responded. The focus and determination to execute what we were trying to do was really good."
The first set featured 11 ties and four lead changes, while South Alabama ultimately won the opening frame. The Golden Eagles led by as many as three in the first set until South Alabama knotted things at 10-all and then the two teams continued to trade points. Tied at 19, the Jaguars hit a 6-0 run to pull away and win the set, 25-19. Mia Wesley finished with six kills in the set, while Cara Atkinson added four. The second set featured much of the same story, but this time Southern Miss was able to even things up thanks to a pair of kills from Madison Bowles and Atkinson sealed the set. An Atkinson kill earlier in the set pushed the Golden Eagles' lead to five before South Alabama made it a one-point match before the Atkinson and Bowles kills.Â
Junior Gillian Hidalgo made some noise in the second set as the outside hitter subbed in and added three kills, while Ari Barksdale had two in the second set. Southern Miss continued to ride its momentum in the third set as the Black and Gold were poised to take a three-point lead into the media timeout, but South Alabama quickly ruined that after back-to-back attacking errors, and a Niki Capizzi kill. Instead, it was 15-14 going into the media timeout. Hazelwood's squad responded and got back to a three-point lead following a Wesley kill that made it 22-19. Kills from Hidalgo and Atkinson sealed the third-set win for the Golden Eagles to make it 2-1.
South Alabama responded with its backs against the wall to win the fourth set 25-12.Â
"I just told them that it happened, and we couldn't change anything about it," Hazelwood said of the fourth set. "if we held on to any of that, it would carry over. We knew the score was 0-0 and we had to start over. We played great outside of that set, so we knew how to do that and what we wanted to do."
However, that Jaguar thrashing quickly left the minds of the Golden Eagles as they regrouped and started quick in the winner-take-all fifth set. Wesley opened the set with two monster kills to get the Wellness Center rocking and then the roof blew off when South Alabama's Hannah Maddux had an attacking error to make it 3-0. South Alabama would go to take a two-point lead of its own after Wesley had a service error. Perhaps all Southern Miss needed was a side change as the Golden Eagles acted fast after changing sides halfway through the fifth set. Wesley pushed the Golden Eagle lead back to two after she spiked down one of her five fifth set kills to make it 13-11. Though South Alabama would make things interesting at 14-14, Hidalgo and Atkinson sealed the massive win with back-to-back kills.Â
Atkinson tied her career-high in kills with 15, while setter Kenzie Smith tallied a career-high 61 assists. Smith added eight digs and a service ace. Wesley, a two-time Sun Belt Offensive Player of the Week finished with a match-high 24 kills and a career-high 25 digs. Sophomore libero Megan Harris posted 29 digs after setting a new career mark last night with 31. Cailin Demps finished with 10 kills.Â
The Golden Eagles will host Troy Sept. 30 and Oct. 1 at the Southern Miss Wellness Center. First serve on Friday night is slated for 6 p.m.
"South Alabama is an outstanding team that is well coached," said Southern Miss head coach Jenny Hazelwood. "After losing last night and almost forcing a fifth set, then losing the first set today, I was really proud of how we responded. The focus and determination to execute what we were trying to do was really good."
The first set featured 11 ties and four lead changes, while South Alabama ultimately won the opening frame. The Golden Eagles led by as many as three in the first set until South Alabama knotted things at 10-all and then the two teams continued to trade points. Tied at 19, the Jaguars hit a 6-0 run to pull away and win the set, 25-19. Mia Wesley finished with six kills in the set, while Cara Atkinson added four. The second set featured much of the same story, but this time Southern Miss was able to even things up thanks to a pair of kills from Madison Bowles and Atkinson sealed the set. An Atkinson kill earlier in the set pushed the Golden Eagles' lead to five before South Alabama made it a one-point match before the Atkinson and Bowles kills.Â
Junior Gillian Hidalgo made some noise in the second set as the outside hitter subbed in and added three kills, while Ari Barksdale had two in the second set. Southern Miss continued to ride its momentum in the third set as the Black and Gold were poised to take a three-point lead into the media timeout, but South Alabama quickly ruined that after back-to-back attacking errors, and a Niki Capizzi kill. Instead, it was 15-14 going into the media timeout. Hazelwood's squad responded and got back to a three-point lead following a Wesley kill that made it 22-19. Kills from Hidalgo and Atkinson sealed the third-set win for the Golden Eagles to make it 2-1.
South Alabama responded with its backs against the wall to win the fourth set 25-12.Â
"I just told them that it happened, and we couldn't change anything about it," Hazelwood said of the fourth set. "if we held on to any of that, it would carry over. We knew the score was 0-0 and we had to start over. We played great outside of that set, so we knew how to do that and what we wanted to do."
However, that Jaguar thrashing quickly left the minds of the Golden Eagles as they regrouped and started quick in the winner-take-all fifth set. Wesley opened the set with two monster kills to get the Wellness Center rocking and then the roof blew off when South Alabama's Hannah Maddux had an attacking error to make it 3-0. South Alabama would go to take a two-point lead of its own after Wesley had a service error. Perhaps all Southern Miss needed was a side change as the Golden Eagles acted fast after changing sides halfway through the fifth set. Wesley pushed the Golden Eagle lead back to two after she spiked down one of her five fifth set kills to make it 13-11. Though South Alabama would make things interesting at 14-14, Hidalgo and Atkinson sealed the massive win with back-to-back kills.Â
Atkinson tied her career-high in kills with 15, while setter Kenzie Smith tallied a career-high 61 assists. Smith added eight digs and a service ace. Wesley, a two-time Sun Belt Offensive Player of the Week finished with a match-high 24 kills and a career-high 25 digs. Sophomore libero Megan Harris posted 29 digs after setting a new career mark last night with 31. Cailin Demps finished with 10 kills.Â
The Golden Eagles will host Troy Sept. 30 and Oct. 1 at the Southern Miss Wellness Center. First serve on Friday night is slated for 6 p.m.
Team Stats
USA
USM
Kills
59
66
Errors
19
32
Attempts
176
201
Hitting %
.227
.169
Points
77
79
Assists
53
65
Aces
7
3
Blocks
11
10
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
24
Aces
0
Blocks
2
Kills
15
Aces
1
Blocks
3
Kills
11
Aces
0
Blocks
2
Kills
10
Aces
0
Blocks
6
Players Mentioned
MB
/ Women's Volleyball
MB
/ Women's Volleyball
RS
/ Women's VolleyballOH/RS
/ Women's Volleyball
DS/L
/ Women's Volleyball
OH/RS
/ Women's Volleyball
S
/ Women's VolleyballOH
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