AU volleyball captures Peach Belt regular-season crown
By Angela Stephan and Riley Triplett | Sports writers
The Augusta University volleyball team swept a doubleheader from Young Harris College at Christenberry Fieldhouse on Saturday, Nov. 5, and captured the Peach Belt Conference regular-season title.
The Jaguars (12-3, 24-6) won the opening match 25-16, 25-16, 25-10 and the second 25-9, 25-16, 25-15.
In the opening set, AU and Young Harris were tied at 3-3, but Augusta then ran off points by Madelyn Eden, Abigail LeVines, Jada Suguturaga and Jazmyn Wheeler to pull away.
Both Suguturaga and Wheeler had two kills each and two blocks as the lead increased to 15-9 halfway through the first set.
Just as Young Harris tried to catch up, senior Alexis Diaz-Infante scored on back-to-back kills. Wheeler then followed with an ace and Kayli Cleaver with two kills making it hard for Young Harris to overcome the big gap.
Augusta started strong in the second set with an ace from Ally Thees, a kill and a block by Diaz-Infante, and another kill by Wheeler. Halfway through the set, Young Harris closed within 9-8, but Augusta once again widened the gap running up the points to 15-8 advantage and never looked back.
Similarly, the Jaguars took the third set 25-10 to win the match. Although Young Harris scored the first point, Augusta took the lead decisively and made it difficult for the Lions to make headway.
Augusta’s outstanding players in the first match included Dariana Luna with 9 digs and Kiera Barr with six. Eden, LeVines and Suguturaga led AU with seen kills. Diaz-Infante, Wheeler and Cleaver each had six kills. Samantha Zittrauer had 16 assists and Abigail Breeden had nine.
The second match was no different than the first one, as the AU team displayed a sense of dominance as the Jags defended their home territory effectively. Augusta won all three sets to secure the Peach Belt Conference regular-season title for the first time in school history. Diaz-Infante and Jazmyn Wheeler had 11 and 10 kills, respectively, in the finale.
The AU volleyball team celebrated the league championship with friends, family and Jaguar fans. To add to the celebration, AU Athletics Director Ryan Erlacher awarded Jaguar Coach Sharon Quarles with a plaque for her achievement of 500 wins in the NCAA, which she did at the PBC/SAC Crossover.
“It was a great day,” Quarles said.” It’s hard when you play a team back-to-back, but you know we stayed focused and they came out strong. We just stayed solid, and it’s great to see our seniors have a great day and overall to put a great exclamation point on the regular season.”
Quarles was also happy for the four seniors on the team, Diaz-Infante, Barr, Zittrauer and Alyssa Dutton.
“It was senior day, so it’s a great day for the four seniors that we do have and just looking for an all-day celebration,” Quarles said.
AU, coming off a tough four-set loss to Lander, now will host the Peach Belt Tournament next weekend (Nov. 10-12) as the top seed. Lander (20-8) will be the second seed, Flagler third and Georgia College fourth. AU and Lander get byes in the quarterfinals.
While it is Augusta’s first-ever regular-season championship in volleyball, the Jaguars have won the PBC Tournament four years in a row running.
With the bye, the Jags will play in the semifinals of the PBC Tournament on Friday, Nov. 11, at 4:30 p.m. at Christenberry Fieldhouse. AU will play the winner of the Georgia College (11-18) vs. USC Aiken (17-12) quarterfinal, which will be played on Thursday, Nov. 10, at 7:30 p.m..
Flagler (15-9) will play Young Harris (3-27) in the other quarterfinal at 5 p.m. on Thursday. The winner of that match will play Lander at 2 p.m. on Friday in the semis.
Contact Angela Stephan at astephan@augusta.edu; contact Riley Triplett at rtriplett@augusta.edu.
Samantha Zittrauer (10) sets up Alexis Diaz-Infante (21) during AU’s doubleheader sweep of Young Harris. At the top of the page, Madelyn Eden gets the kill for the Jaguars, who will host the PBC Tournament. (photos by Madison Keel)
