Tournament CentralLive Stats vs. South Alabama |
Live Stream vs. South Alabama ($)
Live Stats vs. Samford | Live Stats vs. McNeese StateMOBILE, Ala. – The HBU volleyball team will look to build upon Tuesday's sweep of Prairie View A&M, participating in the Jaguar Classic at South Alabama on Friday and Saturday.
The Huskies (5-3) will play the host Jaguars in a 6:30 p.m. match on Friday inside Jag Gym, before seeing fellow participants Samford (10:30 a.m.) and McNeese State (4 p.m.) on Saturday. HBU's matches against South Alabama and Samford mark the first meetings in program history, while the match against McNeese is a non-conference game and will not count towards either team's Southland Conference record.
The Huskies snapped a three-match skid on Tuesday, downing Prairie View 3-0 (25-16, 25-15, 25-16) in Sharp Gym. HBU was led offensively by
Allison Doerpinghaus,
Laura Fox and
Jessica Wooten, who all turned in marquee performances. Doerpinghaus rattled off eight kills on a .700 clip, while Fox recorded career-highs in both kills (8) and digs (6). Meanwhile, Wooten collected her third consecutive double-double (fourth overall) on the season in a 12-dig, 10-kill performance.
Overall, Wooten leads the Huskies with 3.33 kills per set, followed by fellow outside hitters
Bailey Banks and
Melissa Fuchs, who are averaging 2.29 and 2.23 kills per set, respectfully. Junior setter
Kayla Armer continues to be a steady presence for the offense as well, averaging 9.93 assists per set.
Defensively, Wooten (2.85) and sophomore
Hailey Erickson (2.41) anchor the back line, averaging over two digs per set. Sophomore
Blair Gillard and Doerpinghaus control the defensive presence at the net with 22 blocks apiece.
The Jaguars, 2-4 overall, enter their host tournament having dropped their last two matches with losses to Memphis (3-0) and UTEP (3-2) in the Bruiser Showcase at Belmont. Junior Mechell Daniel leads South Alabama in kills (3.00 per set) and digs (1.52 per set), while junior Sarah Richardson holds the team mark with 25 blocks across 25 sets played each.
Samford enters Friday with a 2-2 record, having already won a match over a member of the Southland. The Bulldogs picked up their first win of the season in a sweep of Stephen F. Austin in the War Eagle Invitational at Auburn and followed with a 3-2 triumph over Tennessee State their last time out. Sophomore Kate Neisler leads the offense with 3.80 kills per set. Sophomore Morgan St. Germain captains the defense with 4.78 digs per set, and middle blockers Emily Meitz (11) and T.J. Russell (10) lead the team in blocks.
McNeese, playing its first match since Tuesday, Sept. 1, is coming off a 3-2 win over UT Martin. The Cowgirls are 1-4 on the season, led by sophomore Rae Myers' 3.00 kills per set and junior Bridget Justis' 3.63 digs per set.
Following the Jaguar Invitational, HBU will close its non-conference tournament schedule at the Golden Hurricane Invitational, playing host Tulsa, North Texas and Oral Roberts across September 18-19.
