Jaguar Soccer Sweeps SBC Individual Awards, Places 7 On All-SBC Teams
Freshman Charde Hannah became the second Jaguar and second SBC player ever to win both Freshman of the Year and Offensive Player of the Year awards in the same season. Photo: usajaguars.com
South Alabama women’s soccer team dominance in conference play has yielded them a sweep of the individual awards and seven players named to the All-Sun Belt Conference teams at annual SBC Awards Banquet on Tuesday. The Jags set new records with seven student-athletes earning spots on the All-SBC teams, they also set a record with five student-athletes earning first-team recognition. Additionally, USA becomes the first school in conference history to outright sweep the major individual awards.
Freshman Charde Hannah received both the league’s Offensive and Freshman of the Year awards. Junior Nini Rabsatt-Smith earned the Defensive Player of the Year award and head Coach Graham Winkworth was awarded the Sun Belt Coach of the Year.
The Jaguars had five players on the All-SBC First-Team, a new school record, which included Hannah, Rabsatt-Smith, Rio Hardy, Sophie Haywood and Steffi Hardy. They also had Monique Autmon and Danielle Henley who were named to the All-SBC Second-Team.
Hannah makes the second consecutive Jaguar player to win both the freshman and player of the year awards in the same season. Lauren Allison accomplished the feat in 2013. Prior to Hannah and Allison, no SBC school has ever claimed both the freshman and player of the year in the same season.
Monday Press Conference – ULL Recap, Previewing ASU
Head Coach Joey Jones speaks to his team after the conclusion of practice.
The University of South Alabama held their weekly press conference. Head coach Joey Jones was joined by tight end Braedon bowman and defensive back Montell Garner on Monday to recap their game against Louisiana-Lafayette and to preview their upcoming conference game at Arkansas State this weekend. Below are highlights of press conference.
Head coach Joey Jones’ opening statement.
“All year long we’ve talked about getting over the previous game whether we won it or lost it, we’re going to move on to the next one, so I don’t think it will be a problem getting our guys ready [for Arkansas State]. They understand what we need to do to get prepared for the next ballgame. The Louisiana-Lafayette game was real physical on both sides, there was a lot of great defense out there. They did a good job defensively of bending but not breaking against us, they didn’t give up too many big plays. We got down there late in the fourth quarter and didn’t punch the ball in the end zone, we just didn’t make plays like we could have, so the challenge to our team is to continue to improve there. We’ve been making those pretty much all year long but didn’t come through on that one.
“Next week is a new challenge for us, we’ve got another great team to play in Arkansas State. They are very, very good and explosive on offense and they play great defense so it’s going to be a challenge for our guys to go up there, but we are looking forward to it.”
Jones talked about how the ULL and Arkansas State offenses differ.
“I think they are a lot different. Offensively UL-Lafayette is a big power team and Arkansas State works more on the perimeter, they throw the ball out there a lot and try to get their running backs outside on the edges. They have a real athletic quarterback who is as good as any runner at the position that we’ve faced other than the guy at Georgia Southern, but he can throw it as well. They are more of a true spread team.”
He then talked about the opportunity the team has with its next two conference games against Arkansas State and Texas State.
“The next two weeks are our last two [Sun Belt] conference games. We’re sitting here at 4-2 and would like to finish strong. To win these two would ice bowl game possibilities, that’s big for our guys — they want to get that done and understand what is at stake.”
Jones fielded a question about the quarterback situation. Brandon Bridge came out with an ankle injury and Matt Floyd led the team down to the 2 yard line before a turnover kept them out of the end zone.
“I think Matt (Floyd) is a winner, and that he will come in and do well if need be. We’ll see how it goes this week, we don’t know how it will end up with injuries, but all I know is that I feel real comfortable with either one of them. It’s good you can say that as a head coach that you believe your back-up guys can come in there and play.”
He spoke about the Jaguar defense next.
“We play with a lot of passion over there, [defensive coordinator] Coach [Travis] Pearson and his staff have done a great job with them. They play hard, and our defensive front has played very well. We knew we had some really good starters coming back, our concern coming into the season was depth. But we’ve fixed some of those depth issues, obviously our starters on the defensive front are probably a little bit better than our backups, we’ve got guys who can rotate in there and play. Other than [linebacker] Maleki [Harris] getting hurt we’ve been injury free on defense as well, which has helped.”
Then the focus turned to the offense.
“We are struggling on third down, we were 4-of-15 last week; you have to convert third downs in order to keep drives alive. On deep-play balls we’ve had a lot of guys open for touchdowns and not been able to convert some of those. When you play Arkansas State and Louisiana-Lafayette you better hit some of those big plays, they can change the game. It just comes down to execution, it’s not a matter of any secret X’s and O’s or some special play. It is just a matter of throwing and catching the ball most of the time.
“When you throw a long ball the percentage chances are less than a five-yard pass, so we have to hit some of those because if we can make some big plays with this offense, and we’re very capable of doing that, it’s going to make a difference in the game. You look at the Appalachian State game earlier in the year, we had a couple of big pass plays that just broke the ice where things started flowing very well. Sometimes that’s all it takes to get that going for our offense, and if we do that we can be a really good offensive football team.”
Tight end Braedon Bowman talked about bouncing back from the loss.
“We just have to execute on offense. We can’t get down into the red zone three or four times and come out with three or six points. We have to put it in the end zone. And we just need the defense to get the ball back quickly for us so we can keep scoring.”
Previewing Arkansas State
“They have a good offense that can put up a lot of points. Offensively, we need to execute our plays and keep the ball out of their offense’s hands. They have a powerful offense as well. We just need to move the ball and put it in the end zone.”
Bowman then talked about how physical the game against the Cajuns was.
“It was tough. Their ends squeezed hard, and they had some big linebackers that really filled the gaps hard. Running the ball was difficult. It was a physical game.”
Reflecting on the offense, Bowman finished by saying.
“I feel like we’re so close to the offense exploding. We left a lot of points out on the field (last week) that could have easily been a swing here or there. Our coaches will put together another great plan for us this week.”
Defensive back Montell Garner on bouncing back from the loss to ULL.
“From a defensive standpoint, we just have to keep chopping wood. We just have to do whatever is necessary to keep them (Arkansas State) out of the end zone.”
Garner on the defense.
“We’re taking good coaching, and one thing about being a good defense is you have to be consistent. You have to be disciplined and play sound in the gaps. We practice those things and we watch a ton of film. We’re real students of the game to where once we get into the game, we know what’s going on. We just have to continue to be consistent and play disciplined. We demand turnovers on defense – they change the ballgame.”
Talking about how physical the game was against the Cajuns.
“It was a very physical game. It’s just the mindset you have to have. You know they like to run the ball so you know it’s going to be a physical game. They try to bring it downhill, and you have to hit them in the mouth. It’s just the mindset that we all have to have defensively. We have to prove that week-in and week-out. Our coaches prepare us, and you have to overcome adversity and understand you’re never really out of a game.”
Previewing Arkansas State
“They have a running back with good speed, so we’re going to have to knuckle up and tackle. They live off the play-action deep ball and big plays, so we’re just going to have to be disciplined.”
Finally, Garner spoke about the defensive unit’s improvement throughout the season.
“We know what to expect when we see guys line up in formations. We see it on film and if everyone does their assignment according to how the defense is set up, it builds a wall. We really just key off of everyone doing their assignment and going 110 percent.”
South Alabama and Arkansas State will kickoff on Saturday in Jonesboro, Arkansas at 2pm. The game can be heard locally on 99.9FM with pregame starting at 1:30pm. You can also watch the game online on ESPN3.com.
South Alabama Set To Host SBC Soccer Championships Starting Wednesday
The Sun Belt Conference women’s soccer championships begin on Wednesday, November 5th on the campus of the University of South Alabama. The Jaguars (16-2-1, 8-0-1 SBC) earned the #1 seed with their regular season championship and enter the tournament with a 15 match unbeaten streak.
Here are the seeds for the 2014 bracket:
- South Alabama – 25 pts., 8-0-1
- Troy – 18 pts., 6-3-0
- Texas State – 16 pts., 5-3-1
- Georgia Southern – 16 pts., 5-3-1
- Appalachian State – 15 pts., 5-4-0
- Georgia State – 13 pts., 4-4-1
- UL Lafayette – 13 pts., 4-4-1
- UALR – 7 pts., 2-6-1
Wednesday’s Matches:
M1 – 10am (CT) #6 Georgia State vs #3 Texas State
M2 – 1pm – #7 UL Lafayette vs #2 Troy
M3 – 4pm – #5 Appalachian State vs #4 Georgia Southern
M4 – 7pm – #8 UALR vs #1 South Alabama
Friday November 7:
M5 – 4pm – M1 Winner vs M2 Winner
M6 – 7pm – M3 Winner vs M4 Winner
Sunday, November 9:
M7 – 1pm – Championship match between M5 Winner and M6 Winner (Broadcast on ESPN3)
USA Men’s Cross Country Win SBC Championship
The University of South Alabama men’s cross country team won the Sun Belt Conference Championship on Sunday. Christoph Graf and Michael Pienaar finished first and second in the 8k race held at Battleship Memorial Park.
This is first conference title for the Jaguars since 2006 and their eighth overall for the program.
The women finished 7th place in the team competition in the 5k held earlier in the day.
In addition to the conference championship, the Jags picked up several awards. Graf was named the meet’s Most oustanding Performer, Pienaar was named the conference’s Freshman of the Year. Coach David Barnett was named the Sun Belt Coach of the Year.
The men’s race was close throughout the entire 8k with Graf and Pienaar both in the lead pack during the race. Graf’s victory was his second of the season, his first was at the Azalea City Classic in his Jaguar debut on September 13. He finished with a time of 24:26.6.
Pienaar posted his third top-5 in as many races and less than three seconds behind Graf.
Both Graf and Pienaar were honored with first-team all-conference honors.
Patrick Rohr finished 13th with a time of 25:16.5 which was good for third-team all-SBC honors, his third consecutive year to earn all-conference honors for the Junior.
Robert Mann and Joe Gratton finished 18th and 19th place respectively with Mann finishing with a time of 25:38.3 and Gratton finishing one second later. Justin Housley (28th), Daniel Carter (30th) and Buddy Soto (38th) also competed for the Jaguars.
Nicole Durham led the lady Jaguars as she finished 19th with a time of 17:50.5. Ivy Chastain finished 28th with a time of 18:19.2. Ashley Heitling (41st), Alivia Bryars (44th), Joanna McCoy (45th), Shannen Weyer (47th), Kayla Wheeler (54th) and Kristin Parry (64th) also competed for the Jaguars.
The postseason will continue on November 14 with the NCAA South Region Championships that will be hosted at Florida State University in Tallahassee.
Jags Fall To Cajuns In Lafayette 19-9
Louisiana-Lafayette’s Elijah McGuire gained over 150 yards in the second half as he gained 229 all-purpose yards to lead the Cajuns to a 19-9 win over the Jaguars in Lafayette Saturday evening.
The Jaguar defense had held McGuire to just 23 yards rushing through three quarters before he broke free for a 33-yard run on the Cajun’s first drive of the fourth quarter. That drive would lead to a Lafayette field goal to take a 12-9 lead over the Jaguars.
Matt Floyd would lead the Jaguar offense down the field to answer the Cajun score with completions of 26 and 41 to Braedon Bowman and Marvin Shinn respectively. But on a third-and-goal from the Lafayette 2 yard line a miscommunication on a zone read play resulted in a fumble that would be recovered by Christian Ringo for the Cajuns to end the scoring threat.
The turnover would result in the Cajuns driving 91 yards for a game-sealing touchdown. McGuire would figure prominently in the drive again with a 31-yard catch and an 8 yard touchdown run to cap off the drive. The Jaguars would be unable to mount another threat with under five minutes remaining.
The Cajuns would open the scoring after the Jaguar defense held them to a field goal in the opening quarter.
South Alabama would answer answer early in the second quarter with a 20-yard field goal. Then later in the quarter, Bridge would connect with Shavarez Smith for a 58-yard gain on a 3rd-and-8 and two plays later they would find the end zone for a 9-3 lead after a failed extra point.
Leading 9-6, the Jags would have an oppotunity to extend their lead, but Aleem Sunanon’s 49-yard attempt would be hooked left of the uprights as time expired.
Xavier Johnson led the Jaguars on the ground with 43 yards on 10 carries. Kendall Houston rushed for 42 yards on 15 carries. Louisiana’s McGuire rushed for 116 yards on 18 carries and a touchdown. Terrance Broadway added 54 yards rushing for the Cajuns on 11 carries.
Brandon Bridge was 16-of-27 for 177 yards and a touchdown. Matt Floyd came in after Bridge injured his ankle and went 4-of-8 for 93 yards.
Shavarez Smith caught eight passes for 116 yards to lead the Jaguar receivers. Braedon Bowman caught three for 54 yards, Jereme Jones also caught three passes for 35 yards and a touchdown. Shinn caught two for 51 yards.
McGuire caught nine passes for 90 yards with James Butler adding four passes for 91 yards for the Cajuns.
Terrance Broadway went 16-of-28 for 216 yards through the air.
Terrell Brigham led the defense with 10 total stops, nine solo. Jerome McClain had the lone Jaguar sack.
USA fell to 5-3 overall and 4-2 in conference play. Lafayette improved to 5-3 overall and 4-0 in conference play.
The Jags will look to earn bowl eligibility next Saturday when they travel to Jonesboro to face Arkansas State (5-3, 3-1 SBC) for a 2pm kickoff.
SBC Holds Basketball Media Day
The University of South Alabama held its annual basketball Media Day. It featured all 11 head coaches including USA head men’s basketball coach Matthew Graves. Here are some highlights from the event.
Graves’ opening statement
“I’m very excited about my second year in the Sun Belt. I’m looking forward to the improvements that we can make to our program, and excited to be competing in what looks to be another outstanding year in the Sun Belt.”
Graves spoke about where the team is going to turn this season after losing the team’s top three scorers from a year ago.
“We don’t know where we’re getting our scoring. That’s probably our biggest concern this year. You’re not going to replace an Augustine Rubit with one or two guys, it’s going to take a committee. Antoine Allen had his moments where he could score 20 points on a given night. To get that kind of consistent production, it’s going to be by committee. We’re still feeling that process out. We’re an extremely young, inexperienced basketball team, and it’s one I am very excited about and I think we have a bright future, but right now we’re still really trying to see what guys can do and how they’re going to fit together with all of the pieces that we have. That’s going to take place in the games, for us to get that under our belt and have a great feel.”
Graves talked about what he already knows about his team.
“Ken Williams has had a great offseason. I really look for him to be a key player for us this season, as he grows and develops into a role where night in and night out, he’s probably going to get one of the better defenders on him. He’s going to have to adjust and be able to handle that, but I’m really excited about his development. The thing I’m probably most excited about is we have a group of guys that are starting to understand and embrace what we’re trying to teach them as a coaching staff. There is a lot more buy-in from player No. 1 all the way through player No. 13 and the managers and staff. There’s a better vibe and more togetherness and that’s what I’m really excited about, because when you have that, you have a team that is capable of getting a lot better throughout the season and making things happen.”
Graves was asked about what newcomers have stook out to him.
“John Brown, our junior-college kid, has come in and done a nice job. Where he can help us is giving us some size on the wing. We really lacked that last year and he going to come in and play some minutes for us at that small forward spot. With his size and athleticism, that’s really going to help us, especially on the defensive end of the floor. Taishaun Johnson, a freshman point guard, has really shown bursts in practice of giving us a little more quickness on the perimeter and getting the ball into the paint. With his size at 5-foot-10 or 5-foot-11, and his quickness, it’s really added an extra element to our offense that we didn’t have last year. Out of the newcomers, those two have really stood out early. Tafari Whittingham is still coming back from off-season surgery, so we’re bringing him along slowly. He’s full-go at practice, but just watching him, you can tell with his conditioning that he’s still several weeks away.”
Graves was then asked about the starting point guard position.
“That’s Barrington’s (Stevens) position right now, and as I tell all the players, you have to earn your spot and your minutes, and once you do, you have to keep producing and keep that. If we were going to play today, Barrington would be our starting point guard. The nice thing about our roster is we do not have a lot of depth this year. Guys are going to have a lot of opportunities to play and contribute. We have 10 scholarship players, so we have five guys that I feel like are basically our 1s, 2s and 3s, and we’ve got five guys that primarily will play the 4 and the 5. Playing time should not be an issue. Guys will get opportunities, and what they do with those opportunities will ultimately determine how many minutes they play.”
Graves answered a question about his team and if they will play more up tempo this season.
“That’s one of the areas that we’ve put an emphasis on—trying to score and do a better job out of our transition offense. Last year, statistically we were one of the worst teams in the league in scoring out of transition opportunities. We’ve put a major emphasis on taking advantage when we have 3-on-2 or 4-on-3 opportunities in transition and looking to push the ball and play a little faster to help offset some of the scoring in the halfcourt.”
South Alabama hosts University of Mobile in an exhibition game on November 6 at the Mitchell Center. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:05pm.
South Alabama Looks To Sour Cajun Homecoming
South Alabama rides a four-game winning streak into Lafayette to face the Ragin’ Cajuns* on Saturday as their homecoming opponent. The Jaguars are just one win away from being the first Sun Belt team to reach bowl eligibility**. But this game is not a gimmie.
South Alabama began the season with a road win over Kent State, then tough losses to current #1 Mississippi State, and conference newcomer and Sun Belt leader Georgia Southern (6-2, 5-0 SBC), both at home. They responded with wins over Idaho, Appalachian State, Georgia State, and Troy which have a combined record of 5-25 overall and 3-14 in conference play. Not the best resume to hang your hat on.
The Jaguars schedule gets considerably more difficult in November. The Jags have games against Arkansas State in Jonesboro, Texas State, South Carolina in Columbia and the season finale against Navy which are a combined 16-14. But it all begins with Lafayette (4-3, 3-0 SBC).
USA is undefeated on the road and have been touting their 30-8 season finale win over Lafayette last season which spoiled the Cajuns outright championship and gave Arkansas State a share of the title. But the Cajuns were without star quarterback Terrance Broadway in that game. A win would have also given them the most wins in school history. In the end, it was Lafayette who ‘won’ as they were one of only two Sun Belt teams (the other was co-champion Arkansas State) to earn a bowl invite in a conference that had seven bowl-eligible teams.
A year later both teams are trying to keep up with Georgia Southern, but the Cajuns have revenge on their mind as they are set to host the Jaguars for a Homecoming matchup at Cajun Field.
The Cajuns have rebounded from losing three-consecutive games to win their last three games. Those three losses were against Louisiana Tech, Ole Miss and Boise State. Not bad losses, mind you. The three wins came against Georgia State (okay, maybe not so good), Texas State and Arkansas State (both 4-3, 2-1 SBC). Not bad wins and it makes you glad that South Alabama does not have the word “State” in their name.
Lafayette cleared a big hurdle with a 55-40 win over Arkansas State last Tuesday. They have one of the easiest conference schedules of any Sun Belt team.Their remaining schedule begins with the Jaguars (5-2, 4-1 SBC) and continues with New Mexico State, ULM, Appalachian State and Troy which are a combined 8-22 overall and 5-10 in conference play. Only one of those last four has a real shot at being .500 or above for the season.
By the numbers
Monday Press Conference – Cajun Invasion Edition
Head coach Joey Jones observes the Jaguars scrimmage on Saturday, August 15 2014 at St. Paul’s Episcopal School.
South Alabama football head coach Joey Jones met with the media on Monday along with defensive back E.J. May and running back Xavier Johnson to reflect on the Jaguars 27-13 win over Troy and to preview their upcoming trip to face Louisiana-Lafayette. Below are highlights from the press conference.
Coach Jones’ opening statement: “That was a big win on Friday night for us, I thought our guys played really well. Obviously there are some things we could have done better, but overall our players fought and got after it. We’re looking forward to this week, Louisiana-Lafayette was the unanimous choice to be No. 1 in the league — rightfully so — because they have really good players and a great coaching staff. [ULL head coach] Mark [Hudspeth] has done a tremendous job with that program.”
Jones spoke about the offensive effort by the Jaguars against Troy. “I thought the offensive line played great, they had a look in their eyes that they wanted to play some physical football; that was real good to see. Our running backs played lights out, Kendall had the best game of his career and Xavier came in as a freshman and ran the ball really well. That was a plus on that side of the ball to have those guys play like that.”
He then turned his attention to ULL by talking about the Cajun offense. “Elijah McGuire, in my opinion, is the best player in this league. Then you look at all the other talent they have around him, it’s not like you can just focus on him. Terrance Broadway is a great player, a three-year starter who understands their offense and has played in a lot of big game, and they have big linemen; they probably average 320 [pounds] up front. Our defense is looking forward to the challenge.”
Jones on ULL’s defense. “They are very good and very big on the defensive front, they are probably the biggest defensive front we will face. I haven’t looked at South Carolina yet, but I know the size of these guys is bigger than anybody in the Sun Belt. They’re well-coached and run to the football, they play with a lot of passion as you would imagine. They are a very good defense.
“When you have a team with a good offense that’s all people want to talk about, but their defense plays very well.”
Speaking about the challenge this game will present, Jones had this to say. “This is why you play football. As we were going through our conference schedule a couple of weeks ago I told them the next game is the most important one, I know it’s cliché but it’s the truth. I believe if Louisiana-Lafayette doesn’t have the best environment in the Sun Belt then it is top two, they have great crowd support. Last time we went over there it didn’t go very well, so we’d like to go over there and play better this time.”
Jones was asked what he attributes his team’s success on the road this season to. “That was a point of emphasis for me, I stressed it to the players during the offseason, I’m not taking credit for it, I’m just saying it started there. We took two trips during the summer to different high schools to get ready for a game, so to speak, and I think that helped us. And there is a mental toughness aspect to it, our strength staff did a great job with those guys in the offseason; no matter what happens, our guys are going to come out ready to compete.”
Jones talked about his team being one game away from bowl eligibility. “It enters your mind, but the truth is we have to focus on what we have to do to win this ballgame or any ballgame. That’s one of our goals and something we certainly want to get done, but what we are focusing on is practice every day so we can achieve those goals.”
Defensive back E.J. May talked about the team’s confidence. “The difference I see is that we’re playing more as a team, everyone is playing for something. We’re just more of a family, and that has helped build some of our confidence coming into this week’s game.”
“I have so much confidence in our front seven; I feel like we have one of the best defensive fronts in the country. That’s what it’s going to come down to, but the defensive backs are going to have to hold it down in the back too.”
May continued by talking about the team’s success on the road. “That was kind of our weak point last year, but we made a commitment as a team to win on the road. We just have to prepare like we have every other week. We’re playing great football right now.”
He then talked about ULL. “We just have to prepare for them like we do every other opponent. They have a one-two punch at running back, and the quarterback is very good too. But we just have to watch film and do the same thing we’ve been doing to prepare.”
On being just one win away from eligibility, he said “It’s just a boost to know that we’re that close, right there on the edge. We just need to keep working hard. It’s going to play out.”
Redshirt freshman running back Xavier Johnson, who wore #8 in honor of Jay Jones who suffered a season ending knee injury against Georgia State, began by talking about the win over Troy. “We blocked well Friday night. Coach (Jones) told us at halftime to just keep grinding, and we came out in the second half and executed offensively.”
Johnson addressed the team’s confidence by saying, “We’re playing with a lot of confidence right now. We are playing with a chip on our shoulder, and each week we’re playing for (injured running back) Jay Jones. We just need to come out with good intensity and a good attitude this week at practice.”
Johnson talked about the offensive units improvement throughout the season up to now. “We’ve made a big improvement from game one. We weren’t playing selfish in game one, but we weren’t playing like brothers. We realized as the season progressed that if we play together then we can have more success.”
South Alabama and Louisiana-Lafayette are scheduled to kickoff at 4pm on Saturday from Cajun field. Pregame and play-by-play can be heard locally on Lite Mix 99.9FM or iHeartRadio. The game will be televised on ESPN3.com.
Jaguar Volleyball Ends Three-Match Skid
The Jaguar volleyball team snapped their three-match losing streak on Friday in Monroe against the Warhawks 3-2 (25-20, 20-25, 25-17, 19-25, 15-13).
Mechell Daniel posted her team-leading eighth double-double of the season. But she wasn’t the only Jaguar in double-digits. Mallory Moore added 16 kills, Jessica Lewis had 15 kills, and Nikki Gittens had 11 kills.
Junior setter Emily Hundt posted her seventh double-double with 60 assists and 10 digs. While senior libero Jenna Hassell posted a season best 26 digs. Kelly Little added 14 digs off the bench for a season best for her as well.
The Jags had an 87-71 advantage over the Warhawks in digs as well as a 67-38 advantage in assists. The Jags had 73 kills to ULM’s 44.
Unfortunately on Sunday the Jags fell in straight sets to Arkansas State 3-0 (21-25, 22-25, 17-25) in the second of three-straight road matches for the Jaguars.
Sophomore Mechell Daniel led the team offensively and defensively with 14 kills and 15 digs, both team highs, for her ninth double-double of the season. Nikki Gittens had 10 kills while Symone Stephenson added six kills and hit .385 in the match. Jenna Hassell carded 14 digs.
South Alabama falls to 10-12 overall and 5-7 in conference play. Arkansas State improves to 13-8 overall and 8-4 in conference play.
The Jags will finish their three-match road trip on Friday, October 31 at Georgia Southern before returning home to host Texas State.
Jags Pick Up Pair of Wins, Claims SBC Regular Season Title
The South Alabama soccer team had a very successful road trip through Arkansas over the weekend.
On Friday afternoon the Jaguars used four goals from four different players to defeated Arkansas State 4-1 to clinch the Sun Belt Conference regular season championship.
They overcame an early 1-0 deficit after six minutes with a quick doublestrike from freshman Danielle Henley and Steffi Hardy. Henley’s goal game in the 20th minute of play and went in off the goalkeeper. Hardy’s goal came on a free kick from 20 yards out in the 22nd minute.
After halftime, the Jags added two more insurance goals. Charde Hannah converted a pass from Chelsea Followwell in the 81st minute. Then freshman Rio Hardy completed the scoring at the 89:13 mark on a breakaway.
Sarah Hay made eight stops in the victory.
On Sunday, the Jags finished out their regular season schedule and extended their unbeaten streak to 15 matches with a 2-1 win over Arkansas State.
Nini Rabsatt-Smith started the scoring when she took a bad back pass to the goalkeeper and put it in the net at the 6:22 mark.
The Trojans tied the match in the 34th minute of play.
Freshman Rio Hardy broke the tie just over four minutes after the equalizing goal. Freshman Charde Hannah had a shot on goal but was saved by the UALR goalkeeper. The rebound went to Hardy who headed it into the net for the game winner.
Sarah Hay made five saves in the net for the Jags and allowed only one goal.
Next up for the Jaguars is the Sun Belt Tournament beginning November 5. The tournament will be hosted on the South Alabama campus at The Cage. The Jags will open play with a rematch against Arkansas-Little Rock at 7pm on November 5.