By Erin Burditt |Sports writerAIKEN, S.C.—The Augusta Jaguars, behind a balanced attack, swept past Flagler on Sunday, Nov. 24 in the final of the Peach Belt Tournament at the USC Aiken Convocation Center.The Jaguars (27-8) rode the strong hitting of Nicolette Ramos, Kylie Martin, Chloe Allen and Nedu Evans to win 25-22, 25-21, 25-16 over the Saints, who had tied USC Aiken for first place in the regular-season race. Ramos paced AU with 12 kills, followed by Martin with eight, and Allen and Evans with seven each. Allen also had 12 digs and three blocks.Holland Martin added 16 digs for the champions. Jessica Hedrick had six kills and four digs."Everything has just been coming together," said Jaguar Coach Sharon Quarles, whose team entered the PBC tourney ranked fifth in the Southeast Region. "We had some first-day jitters on Friday, but we settled down and came out to play our way the second and third day."Flagler (23-8) was led by Karlie Redfern with seven kills.Quarles praised the play of freshman Evans."She stepped up big time on the outside," the AU coach said. "She really stood out and made big plays."
Ramos and Hedrick were named to the all-tournament team. Ramos was named the tourney MVP.In the first round, AU beat UNC Pembroke in three sets. Ramos and Madison Malloch led the way for the Jaguars as they had 13 kills apiece. Murchie led the Jaguars in assists with 22, and Hedrick led Augusta in hitting percentage with a .346 mark. Holland Martin led the Jaguars defensively with 21 digs, and Allen led the team in blocks with three.The first set between AU and UNC Pembroke (15-21) was back and forth. The Jaguars were able to hold on to win the set by a 25-21 score. UNC Pembroke tied it up at one set each after winning the second set, 25-21. The Jaguars came out strong in the third set and dominated the Braves. The third set was close early on, but the Jaguars went on a 12-4 scoring run and won by a score of 25-11. In the fourth set, the Jaguars found themselves down early, but they were to fight back and make it 13-13. It became a back and forth affair from there, but the Jaguars were able to secure the victory, 25-22.In the semifinals, the Jaguars beat USC Aiken in straight sets. Ramos led the team with 11 kills. Malloch was second on the team with 10 kills, but she added a .400 hit percentage. Leading the Jaguars in assists was Samantha Zittrauer with 19, and Murchie was second with 17. The Jaguars' defense stepped up once again as they held USC Aiken to a .051 hitting percentage. Holland Martin led the Jaguars with 15 digs, and Jessica Hedrick led the team with five blocks of her own.
The Jaguars dominated USC Aiken in the first set as they won, 25-15. The Jaguars had a hit percentage of .224 in the first set. The Jaguars won the second set by a score of 25-14, and they improved their hitting percentage from the first set to .318 in the second set. The third set was more back and forth between the two teams. The Jaguars found themselves down 24-23 but we able to tie it up. AU trailed 26-25 but rebounded and secured the win, 28-26.With the conference championship, Augusta earns an automatic bid in the NCAA Division II tournament in two weeks. The Jaguars will discover their seed Monday, Nov. 25 at 7:30 p.m. with the NCAA selection show. Quarles said the team would get the news at the Jaguar golf center next to Christenberry Fieldhouse.The volleyball championship was the second in AU history. AU has now won nine of its last 10 matches.Update: Augusta University was given the fourth seed in the NCAA Division II Southeast Region on Monday, Nov. 25. The Jaguars will play rival (No. 5) USC Aiken (25-5) in the opening round in Wingate, N.C., on Dec. 5. Top-seeded Wingate (29-2) will play No. 8 Emmanuel (20-12). The AU-Aiken winner will play the Wingate-Emmanuel winner in the regional semifinals on Dec. 6. On the other side of the bracket, No. 2 Queens (24-6) will play No. 7 Flagler (23-8) and No. 3 Carson-Newman (25-7) will play No. 6Anderson (22-7).