AU volleyball opens season with narrow loss at Flagler

By Jack Johnson | Sports writer

The Augusta University volleyball team lost its season opener in five sets to Flagler in St. Augustine, Fla., on March 6.

The hard-fought and long-awaited contest came down to the wire between the Peach Belt Conference rivals. AU won the conference tournament in 2019, which is when Flagler was regular-season champion. Flagler would finish the season 24-9, while the Jaguars would go 29-9 and make it all the way to the NCAA Division II Sweet Sixteen.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, volleyball season had been postponed from last fall until the spring as a safety precaution. This was a tough first opponent for the Jaguars as Flagler was highly ranked in 2019.

The Saints proved to be a tough matchup as they took the first set convincingly by a score of 25-17. The Jaguars, however, proved also to be a worthy adversary as they were able to win the next two sets by scores of 25-21 and 25-16, respectively. 

The Saints proved to be too much for the Jaguars as they would take the next two sets 25-18 and 15-13.

Despite the loss, the Jaguars played very well in their season opener and have multiple threats, making them a diverse team. Kylie Martin is one such threat as she led the Jaguars with 14 kills. Madison Malloch also contributed with 11 kills, and senior standout Chloe Allen added 10 kills.

“I felt very well about my performance as I told myself beforehand that I wanted to go out and be aggressive, score points, and give all that I had to offer to my team,” Allen said.

Samantha Zittrauer and Kassie Till also contributed with 23 and 17 assists, respectively.

“It was a tough loss,” Allen added. “Flagler played very well during that game and it all came down to who wanted it more and they showed up to play. They had more of a rhythm going because they were in their sixth game they’ve played this season, compared to it being our season opener. That’s not an excuse by any means, but I’m optimistic about the growth we’ll experience on the team with the more games we have.”

The Jaguars season will look for its first win on Thursday, March 11, in another road contest, this time against Francis Marion.

The season has been a long time coming for Allen and her teammates due to almost all PBC sports being cancelled last fall because of the pandemic. The Jaguars had to work hard just to find practice time at Christenberry Fieldhouse.

“At first it was difficult to schedule practices because we had to work around other sports like men’s and women’s basketball, who were in season at the time,” said Allen, a preseason all-PBC selection. “It led to a lot of early mornings in January and February, but I’m just very appreciative to even be playing.”

Other than an odd practice schedule, the season seems “relatively normal,” Allen added.

Note: At the top of the page, Chloe Allen spikes another kill for the Jaguars. (photo by AU Athletics)

Contact Jackson Johnson at jacjohnson@augusta.edu.