AU volleyball team defeats rival USC Aiken in five sets
By Katron Hugee | Sports writer
The Jaguars’ volleyball team extended its win streak to three games by taking down Peach Belt Conference rival USC Aiken three sets to two in Christenberry Fieldhouse on Tuesday night, Nov. 2.
This win improved the Jaguars’ conference record to 5-2 and their overall record to 18-7. All three games in the streak have been won in five sets.
The first set started with USC Aiken taking an early 6-3 lead before a 7-0 run by the Jaguars gave Augusta a 10-6 advantage. The Jaguars would grab a six-point lead in the set before a 5-0 Pacers’ run closed the gap and led to a 21-21 score. The end of the set would be highly competitive as both teams traded scores before AU took a 28-27 lead. USC Aiken then ended the set on a 3-0 run for a 30-28 win.
The second set started off tied at 7-7 before two separate 3-0 runs by the Pacers would give them a 19-14 advantage. The Jaguars would respond with a 5-0 to tie the set at 19-19. USC Aiken would take a 23-21 lead late in the set before a 4-0 run by AU won the set 25-23 and tied the match at one set apiece.
The third set went back and forth as USC Aiken and AU exchanged runs and scores, being tied at 5-5, 9-9, 14-14 and 17-17. This continued all the way up to the set being tied 21-21 before the Pacers were finally able to create some space and win the set 25-22 for a 2-1 lead in sets.
The fourth started off as competitive as the rest with the score being tied at 7-7. AU would create some breathing room taking a 13-10 lead over USC AIken. The Jaguars would then slowly but surely widen their gap throughout the set taking a 22-16 lead late. The Jaguars wouldn’t allow the lead to slip as they held firm and finished off the set 25-17 tying the game at 2-2.
The deciding set started with AU coming out firing, jumping out to an early 5-2 lead. The Pacers, however, did not flinch, and a 3-0 run by USC Aiken tied the set at 5-5. After a 6-6 tie, the Jaguars had a 3-0 run of their own taking a 9-6 lead. However, USC Aiken answered once again and had a 4-0 run with the Pacers taking a 11-10 lead in the last set. The set came down to the wire, being tied 13-13, but the Jaguars were able to score the final two points closing the set at 15-13 and winning the match 3-2.
AU Coach Sharon Quarles said it was an important win against a strong conference opponent.
“Aiken’s our backyard rival; there's no love lost there.” Coach Quarles said. “Everytime we show up, whether it’s in their gym or our gym, it’s gonna be a battle, so it's nice to beat up on Aiken even when it’s close to take the W. It’s still beating up on Aiken.”
Both teams had the exact same number of kills with 61, but AU only committed 24 attack errors, compared to USC Aiken’s 32.
Chloe Allen led the home team with 22 kills, followed by Kylie Martin and Alexis Diaz-Infante with 16. Diaz-Infante also led the team in blocks with 6. Samantha Zittrauer led the team in assists with 29, and Holland Martin led the team in digs with 27, followed by Allen with 21.
The Jaguars’ last five wins have been tight, all coming in five sets.
“It's not our preference,” Quarles said. “You’d rather be done sooner rather than later, but you just keep going until you get the W.”
The Jaguars’ next game is a rematch with Flagler College at Flagler on Friday, Nov. 5, at 6 p.m. The Saints won the first match on Oct. 1 in four sets at Christenberry. Flagler (18-4 overall) is alone in first place in the PBC at 8-0. Augusta is next, followed by Aiken in third place.
Contact Katron Hugee at KHUGEE@augusta.edu.
Chloe (on the floor) makes a dig and her teammates, Julie Archer (20) and Samantha Zittrauer, try to retrieve the ball. Holland Martin (14) and Alyssa Frazier (at the net) watch on. At the top of the page, Frazier goes for the kill. (photos by Katron Hugee)
