Jaguars defeat Flagler, win fourth straight Peach Belt volleyball tournament title

By Katron Hugee | Sports writer

The Augusta University volleyball team defeated Flagler College in three sets to win the Peach Belt Conference Tournament championship on Sunday, Nov. 21, in Christenberry Fieldhouse. 

This win secures the Jaguars’ fourth straight Peach Belt Conference Tournament championship, and they became the only team in conference history to accomplish this feat. 

AU Coach Sharon Quarles said after the game how special it is for the team to win four straight PBC championships.

“It’s awesome, it’s never been done before,” Quarles said. “Even though we have returners and there are seven seniors, every year is so very different, and this year is just as special as the first one that we won and the second one and the third one.”

The Jaguars came into the tournament with a 20-8 record in the regular season good enough for the second seed in the tournament. AU swept their last two regular season games with 3-0 wins over Young Harris College and Lander University. This momentum would carry over into a dominant tournament for the Jaguars.

After a first round bye, AU would face the USC Aiken Pacers in the semifinals. In the first set, the Jaguars would go on a 4-0 run to gain a 9-4 lead and later a 3-0 run to gain a 17-10 lead before winning the set 25-17.

The Pacers jumped out to a lead early in the second set up 12-8 before an AU rally tied the score at 21-21. The Jaguars would then go on a 3-0 run giving them the space needed to win the set 25-22.

The Jaguars would dominate the last set as they took a 13-6 advantage. AU never looked back as a 4-0 run widened the gap even farther before the Jaguars won the set 25-14 winning the match three sets to none and securing their spot in the finals.

Kylie Martin led the team in kills with 16, followed by Chloe Allen with 13. Ally Thees lead the team in assists with 18 and in serve aces with 2. Samantha Zittrauer was second in assists with 17 and Holland Martin led the team in digs with 34.

The final would be a rematch against the top-seeded Flagler College Saints. AU had lost their two matchups against Flagler during the regular season.

Quarles talked about the mentality needed and focus for the team going into the championship round.

“The team just understanding that they’ve gotta stay in the moment and not think about missed hits and missed serves but just forward motion,” Quarles said. “It’s a matter of just having fun and getting out there and executing at a high level.”

The Jaguars would come out strong in the championship match, jumping out to a 9-5 lead early in the first set thanks to a 4-0 run. The lead would grow to six as AU led 15-9 but a 4-0 run by Flagler would help lead them back as they would rally to tie the score 19-19. A crucial serve fault by the Saints, however, would help propel a Jaguars 3-0 run and AU would hold on to win the set 25-22.

The second set would start similarly to the first as AU grabbed an early 6-1 lead and later a 11-5 lead. Flagler would cut their deficit down to three points but that is as close as they would get as the Jaguars kept them at bay for the rest of the set winning 25-21 and taking a 2-0 lead in the match.

Set three would start off very competitively as the Saints and the Jaguars would exchange 3-0 runs leading to a tie a 8-8. However, thanks to a pair of 3-0 runs, AU gained a 11-8 advantage and then extended their lead at 15-10. From there, the Jaguars were able to pull away from Flagler to win the set 25-17 and win the match and the championship three sets to zero.

Allen led the team in kills with 11, followed by Martin with 10 and Alyssa Frazier with 9. Zittrauer led the team in assists with 25, followed by Ally Thees who had 16. Thees also led the team with two service aces, and Holland Martin led the team in digs with 17.

Augusta dominated the tournament, sweeping both rounds and winning six straight sets with the last two regular season matches. That makes it 12 straight set victories.

“We’re peaking at the right time and everything is coming together very nicely,” Quarles said. “The timing couldn’t be much better, because everyone talks about peaking at the right time and this is what it looks like.”

Augusta earns the conference’s automatic berth in the Southeast Regionals that opens on Dec. 2, while Flagler is almost guaranteed a slot after its outstanding regular season. The NCAA will announce the regional field on Monday night, Nov. 22.

“The sky’s the limit, if we come and play and compete like we just did,” Quarles said. “We’re just ready to play, it doesn’t matter who we’re seeded against we’re ready to go.” 

Martin was named the tournament MVP. She added 10 digs while hitting .348 in the championship match. Allen added 10 digs.

For the Saints, who won the regular-season title, Logan Garcia and Jordan Berglin had seven kills each. Edie Lamoreaux led Flagler (21-5) with 19 digs, while Kennedy Muff chipped in 29 assists.

Flagler was in its 11th tournament final appearance since 2009.

Contact Katron Hugee at khugee@augusuta.edu.

Alyssa Frazier goes up for a kill in the Peach Belt title game with Flagler. At the top of the page, Chloe Allen delivers a spike for the Jaguars. (photos by Katron Hugee)