AU Volleyball sweeps Mississippi College behind dominant serving

By Rodrigo Burgos Avila | Editor in chief

The Augusta University women’s volleyball team capped off the weekend with a sweep over Mississippi College, taking the match 25-20, 25-10, 25-17 at the USC Aiken Convocation Center.

The Jaguars opened the first set in a tight battle, trading points with the Choctaws until late. Giulia Rodrigues sparked a rally with her serving, while Layne Witherspoon and Lauren Nelson powered through at the net to tie it at 15. Augusta gained control down the stretch and closed the set, 25-20.

Momentum swung heavily in the second set. After Mississippi College jumped to an early 5-2 lead, Rodrigues made a spectacular pancake dig that kept the ball alive for Nelson to finish. From there, Augusta rolled behind Sydney Harrington’s serving. The setter delivered three service aces during a six-point run, stretching the lead to 14-8. Mia Saavedra followed with an ace of her own, and kills from Sofia Snitsarevych and Nelson extended the lead further. The Jags rattled off nine straight points to end the set 25-10, seizing full control of the match.

The third set featured more back-and-forth play before Augusta’s offense settled in again. Snitsarevych and Saavedra combined for key kills, while Witherspoon added a timely finish to put Augusta ahead 18-15. Harrington capped her strong serving night with another ace, pushing the lead to 22-16, before the Jaguars closed the match on a Mississippi College service error to complete the sweep.

For head coach Sharon Quarles, the difference-maker was clear.

“100%. It was to get their middles off the court, not engaging them cause they’re very dynamic, we shut them down and the way we shut them down is by our serve. Weaponizing our serve on the end line and I’ve said this since day one, that if we can weaponize and score points from the end line, then we’re ahead of the game,” Quarles said.

Back-to-back wins over Montevallo and Mississippi College gave Augusta momentum heading into conference play.

“We’re improving each and every weekend. The first weekend was a little shaky, but we came away with two wins, and then this last weekend was alright because it was okay competition, but this [one] was really good. It’s all South. Could’ve been a different story with Alabama Hunstville, but we just missed the opportunity there. We came back strong for the last two matches, which is good. It’s gonna spring board us into what’s coming up which is starting conference play next week,” Quarles said.

Setter Sydney Harrington, who notched multiple service aces while running the offense, echoed her coach’s focus on serving and execution.

“We had no business being that close. In the first set, it was really neck and neck and we had this opportunity to pull away. That’s all I was seeing, that we should be ahead and we’re gonna be ahead,” Harrington said.

She also praised the team’s offensive rhythm.

“It’s all stuff that we’ve been working on in practice. We started running combinations in warm ups and that’s kind of worked out the kinks that we were feeling earlier in the weekend. So that and a mix of learning my hitters through gameplay, because you can do as much practice as you want, but the on court, actual experience, it allows more cohesion. Just a mix of those two things, it felt like we were more confident in each other,” Harrington said.

Augusta (7-2) now turns its attention to the start of Peach Belt Conference play and their home opener against Middle Georgia State on Friday, Sept. 26 at Christenberry Fieldhouse.

Contact Rodrigo Burgos Avila at rburgosavila@augusta.edu.

Note: At the top of the page, the Jags celebrate a seeving ace during their match against the Chocktaws.

At the bottom of the page, Lauren Nelson (2) and Sofia Snitsarevych (11) go up for a block. (Photos by Rodrigo Burgos Avila/The Bell Ringer)