Augusta's comeback bid falls short as Jaguars lose home opener 3-1 to Flagler

By Katron Hugee | Sports writer

The Augusta University volleyball team lost its home opener to their conference rival Flagler Saints in four sets on Friday, Oct. 1, at Christenberry Fieldhouse.

This loss snaps a two-match Peach Belt Conference winning streak for the Jaguars and drops their conference record to 2-1 and their overall record to 11-4. Flagler College improves to 7-3 overall with a conference record of 3-0.

In a battle betweel the top two PBC teams, the Jaguars fell behind two sets to none early, but they fought back valiantly to win the third set before coming up just short in a hotly contested fourth set.

The first set saw the Saints take an early lead of 13-8 due to a series of mistakes from the Jaguars. Flagler never looked back as the Saints comfortably finished off the set with a 25-15 victory. The Jaguars' mistakes cost them the first set as they made 13 attack errors compared to only one by Flagler.

The second set was much more even through the first half of the set, as the score was tied 12-12. The Saints then proceeded to go on a 6-1 run, leading to a Jaguars’ timeout with AU trailing 13-18. The Jaguars attempted to rally but failed with Flagler taking the second set 25-18. Attack errors once again seemed to be the difference as AU finished with nine attack errors to Flagler’s three.  

Sharon Quarles, coach of the AU volleyball team, talked about these early hiccups in the first two sets.

“The first two sets were basically us with our unforced errors,” Quarles said. “It was just too many missed serves and too many missed hits and not getting after it like we should have.”

In the third set, AU came out with a lot of energy but some incredible saves by Flagler helped keep the momentum in their favor and led to another early deficit for the Jaguars trailing 7-4. AU rallied, however, with a 4-0 run to grab an 8-7 lead, leading to Flagler’s first timeout of the match.

The rest of the set was highly competitive as both teams exchanged multiple runs, resulting in a 25-25 tie. The Saints took a 26-25 lead looking to close AU out, but the Jaguars had one last run in them with a 3-0 rally and a 28-26 victory in the third set.

The Jaguars seemed rejuvenated by the third-set win and the momentum felt like it may have shifted as AU jumped out to an early 3-0 and then an 8-3 lead early in set four. The Jaguars maintained a 13-10 lead, but the resilient Flagler team responded with a crucial 7-0 run to take a 17-13 lead, taking back control of the set.

Flagler kept AU at bay, leading 22-18 but the Jaguars would in turn respond with a run, tying the score up at 24-24. The Saints would hold on, however, and win the set 27-25 ending the match with a 3-1 victory.

Quarles noted the difference between the first two sets and the last two sets for the Jaguars.

“We started to come back with better serving, better blocking, better offensive tact, decision making, that was a plus there, but we knew it was going to be a battle tonight, and we just tried to capitalize on their mistakes and just seeing the opportunity to finish and that’s where the struggle came in,” said Quarles.

Seniors Kylie Martin and Alyssa Frazier led AU with 10 kills each. Martin was also tied for the lead in digs with Senior Holland Martin with 21, and senior Samantha Zittrauer led the team in assists with 24.

The Jaguars stay home for their next match against the University of West Georgia on Wednesday, Oct. 6, at 6 p.m., in Christenberry Fieldhouse.

Note: Chloe Allen (6) spikes the ball against Flager during AU’s four-set loss to the first-place Saints. (photo by Whitney Watkins)

 Contact Katron Hugee at khugee@augusta.edu.