Jaguars receive second seed in Southeast Region volleyball tournament
By Payton Wills | Sports writer
The Jaguar women’s volleyball team will face the No. 7 seed UNC Pembroke in the NCAA tournament after earning the No. 2 seed following their loss to USC Aiken in the semifinals of the Peach Belt Conference Tournament at Christenberry Fieldhouse.
The Pacers (19-13) defeated the Jaguars (24-7) in a four-set match in the semifinal round of the PBC Tournament on Friday, Nov. 11.
AU sophomore middle hitter Jada Suguturaga left the court during the first set with a leg injury, and the Jaguars had to find a way to adapt to the change in personnel with different rotations. Freshmen outside hitters Kayli Cleaver and Abigail LeVines stepped in and filled large roles in Suguturaga’s absence.
Cleaver ended the match with eight kills, and LeVines had five blocks.
Despite their best efforts, the Jaguars were defeated in the fourth set by the Pacers. The Pacers won the first set with a close score of 25-22. During the second set, it looked as if the Pacers were going to win easily again. At one point during the second set, the Jaguars were down 20-9. Despite the seemingly insurmountable lead, Augusta rallied together and won the set by a score of 25-23 to tie the game at 1.
USC Aiken was able to regain momentum over Augusta in the third set as they also came back from a 20-12 deficit after an Ally Thees ace to take a 2-1 lead and went on to win the game in the fourth set by a score of 25-18.
Flagler (18-9) would eventually win the tournament over USC Aiken the following day.
Based on its regular-season conference title, the Jaguars earned the second seed in their region. Augusta will face UNC Pembroke (21-13) on Friday, Nov. 18, at 2:30 p.m. at Wingate in the regional quarterfinal.
The tournament is hosted by the No. 1 seed Wingate (29-2). The Bulldogs will play USC Aiken in one of the quarterfinals.
This will be Augusta’s fifth straight time participating in the NCAA tournament. Losing Suguturaga to a knee injury for the rest of the season will create some significant obstacles for the volleyball team, but AU Coach Sharon Quarles has the personnel to rally her team.
The other two quarterfinals pit Flagler against Carson-Newman (27-5) and Anderson (21-7) against Lander (20-9).
Suguturaga was one of the three Jaguars named to the all-conference team. She was joined by senior Alexis Diaz-Infante and junior Jazmyn Wheeler, who led AU with 12 kills against Aiken.
Contact Payton Willis at paywillis@augusta.edu.
Abigail LeVines (12) goes up for the kill for AU in the Peach Belt semifinal against USC Aiken. At the top of the page, Jazmyn Wheeler (16) chases down the ball as Kayli Cleaver (11) watches. (photos by Madison Keel)
