AU sweeps through Florida Southern Volleyball tourney, makes top 25
By J.Ben Haynes | Sports Writer
The Augusta University volleyball team had a successful trip to Lakeland, Fla., this past weekend, as the Jaguars opened their season with a three-match sweep at the Florida Southern Classic.
The Jaguars’ first match in the round-robin tournament came on Friday, Sept. 6, at the George W. Jenkins Field House against the Palm Beach Atlantic Sailfish.
After starting slowly and dropping the first set 25-18, the Jaguars responded, winning the next three sets by scores of 25-23, 25-16, and 25-12.
Outside hitter Sophia Kruczko led the way offensively for the Jags with nine kills and a .333 kill percentage.
Middle hitter Jada Suguturaga played excellently on both sides of the ball, compiling seven kills offensively and eight total blocks defensively (one solo block, seven block assists).
With a 1-0 start to the season, the Jaguars headed into Saturday, Sept. 7, with back-to-back matches against Lewis University and host Florida Southern College.
Lewis came into its match against the Jaguars ranked 14th in the nation in Division II in the AVCA/TARAFLEX preseason poll, setting up for a matchup between two top programs nationally.
It was a back-and-forth match, with Augusta winning sets one and three, and Lewis winning sets two and four.
In the fifth and final set, Lewis got out to a 6-2 lead before the Jaguars came roaring back.
A 10-5 run by Augusta gave the Jags a 12-11 lead in a set that goes to 15 instead of 25.
Then Lewis went on a run of their own, coming back to take a 14-13 edge and serving for the match point, but the Jaguars’ defense held strong as Lewis made three straight attacking errors to give the Jaguars a 16-14 victory in the final set and a 3-2 match win. Suguturaga made the key block to sew up the match.
Offensively, Suguturaga, a graduate student from South Jordan, Utah, and Kruczko, a senior communication major, both finished with a .333 kill percentage. They had seven and nine kills, respectively.
“I think we played really well, especially for our first tournament playing together,” said Krczko. “We were able to really find our rhythm. I couldn't be happier about how the tournament went. Starting 3-0 and having a win against the 14th ranked team in nation shows the potential this team has. I'm so excited to see how our team continues to grow and get even stronger throughout the season.”
Defensively, Madelyn Eden and Suguturaga had 20 combined blocks, and libero Giulia Rodrigues, a transfer from UNC-Asheville, finished with her weekend high 28 digs.
For her efforts, Rodrigues was named Peach Belt Conference specialist of the week. She had 74 total digs in the three matches.
After a massive win over Lewis, the Jaguars continued their momentum and took care of business against the Florida Southern Mocs, winning three sets to one.
It was the usual suspects once again on offense for AU, as Suguturaga’s .455 kill percentage led the Jaguars.
Newcomer Jacklyn Simms, a transfer from West Virginia State, led the team in kills with 13.
After the three-win weekend, the Jaguars were ranked 25th nationally in the latest poll. It is the first national ranking in poll history.
For Eden, who is from Mulberry, Fla., it was a homecoming.
“My high school's volleyball team even came out to watch our Saturday match against Florida Southern College,” Eden said “I got to see my old high school coach, family and friends I have not seen in a while, my immediate family that I haven't seen since summer, and my boyfriend who drove over three hours just to come watch and support me with and in everything I do.”
Like Kurczko, Eden was very satisfied with the Jaguars’ performance.
“Overall, this weekend was not only exciting but also eye-opening and thrilling to play as we saw the potential of what this hard-working team can do,” she said. “In each match we played, we were able to see and fix our problems, and the further into the game we got, the faster we were able to figure out and solve those problems and use them to our advantage.”
Led by Suguturaga and Eden, the Augusta came out of the weekend the top-ranked blocking squad in the nation. Indeed, Suguturaga is ranked second in blocks per set and Eden third.
The Jaguars (3-0) take their undefeated record into another round-robin next weekend at USC Aiken. Augusta will take on North Greenville at 3 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 13, as well as Francis Marion and Carson-Newman on Saturday, Sept. 14.
Contact J.Ben Haynes at jamhaynes@augusta.edu.
AU’s Sophia Kruczko (8) goes up for the block at the Florida Southern Volleyball Classic. At the top of the page, libero Giulia Rodrigues (4) responds to another AU point while her teammates celebrate in the background. (photos by Domonic Macias, special to the Bell Ringer)
AU’s Jacklyn Simms gets the dig for the Jaguars; Simms had a big opening weekend, with 30 kills in the three Jag victories. (photo by Domonic Macias, special to the Bell Ringer)
