Southern University

HATTIESBURG, Miss. — The Southern University volleyball team battled Southern Miss. through two closely contested sets Saturday afternoon before falling to the Golden Eagles, 3-0, at the Southern Miss Wellness Center.
 
Southern Miss. secured the match with scores of 25-23, 25-23 and 25-16.
 
The Lady Jaguars showed plenty of fight early, particularly in the opening two sets, but Southern Miss. made the key plays late in each frame to maintain control.
 
Southern fell behind 5-3 in the opening set before putting together a 5-0 run to take an 8-5 lead. The Lady Jaguars continued to battle and later held a 17-15 advantage following an attack error by Southern Miss.
 
The Golden Eagles responded with a 4-1 run to regain the lead before Southern tied the set at 20-20. Southern Miss. eventually pulled ahead 24-23 and closed out the opening frame, 25-23.
Paulina Agudelo Marin led the Lady Jaguars with three kills in the opening set while hitting .600. Mariah Mott added two kills, and Norielle Battle also recorded two kills. Braelynn Reese contributed two blocks.
 
The second set followed a similar script.
 
Southern Miss. built an 11-7 advantage, but Southern answered with a 7-0 run to take a 14-11 lead. Robinson helped fuel the run with a service ace, while the Lady Jaguars capitalized on several Golden Eagle attack errors.
 
Southern maintained its advantage into the middle portion of the set, leading 16-13 after a service ace from Najah Harris. Southern Miss. responded with a 5-0 run to move in front 18-16.
The Lady Jaguars continued to battle and eventually tied the set at 23-23. Southern Miss., however, scored the final two points to take another 25-23 decision and move within one set of the match victory.
 
Southern Miss. took control early in the third set, opening an 8-2 lead and forcing a Southern timeout.
 
The Golden Eagles extended their advantage to 15-5 before the Lady Jaguars began to chip away. Southern got within 23-14 following an attack error and later scored consecutive points to make it 24-16, but Southern Miss. finished the set, 25-16, to complete the sweep.
 
Mott led Southern offensively with six kills on 24 attacks. Reese finished with four kills and a .182 hitting percentage, while Battle added four kills for the match. Faust recorded a team-high 10 assists, with Vito adding nine assists.
 
Harris led the defensive effort with 21 digs, while also recording two service aces. Sereniti Johnson contributed 17 digs, while Robinson added 11 with two aces.
 
As a team, Southern finished with 25 kills, 59 digs and seven total blocks.
 
Southern Miss. was led by Elly Stewart with eight kills, while Sadie McAda added seven kills. Diana Wells finished with six kills, and Lillie Johnson also recorded six. Hazelwood finished with 31 assists as the Golden Eagles hit .133 as a team.
 
UP NEXT
The Lady Jaguars will travel to New Orleans on Tuesday, September 15, for a 6 pm first serve against Southern New Orleans.

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