Haren, Snitsarevych power AU volleyball past Knights
By Anna Biondolillo | Sports Writer
The AU volleyball team needed a win in the worst way on Thursday night, Sept. 17, and they received major contributions form milddle blocker Sofia Snitsarevych and newcomer outside hitter Emma Haren to sweep Middle Georgia State University at Christenberry Fieldhouse.
Haren, a junior from Jackson, Minn., and a transfer from Morningside University, contributed 12 kills and Snitsarevych, the sophomore from Odessa, Ukraine, added nine kills to lead the Jaguars to a win by set scores of 25-22, 25-20 and 25-23 to snap a six-match skid in the Peach Belt opener.
“As a team, we’ve been working hard to get everything to click, and it felt like it finally happened,” said Haren, whose family was in attendance. “The team chemistry is what I feel like has been missing, so to have all the pieces fall in place tonight to sweep them in three is incredible.”
It was a deceptively close match, even though AU got the sweep. Each set was relatively tight. But, in the end, Augusta took the win with 45 kills, compared to the Knights' 29 kills
Snitsarevych echoed that sentiment when asked how the team did in this match compared to the last tournament.
“The whole team was frustrated after the last tournament, and we all knew that we could do better,” the 2025 PBC freshman of the year said. “Tonight we were able to show that Augusta does a lot better than we did at the previous tournament.”
AU coach Sharon Quarles knows that Snitsarevych’s is a key to the team’s success.
“She’s a presence in the middle,” Quarles said. “If we can continue to find her and spread the offense more, then we’re good.”
The Jaguars (1-0, 3-8) also had big nights from Nikol Antova with eight kills and Layne Witherspoon with six.
Quarles also went to a two-setter attack, with Kinley Nichols getting 21 assists and Andrea Rodriquez totaling 17.
Freshman Moni Anjou’s serving was pivotal as she had four aces. Rodriguez and Haren added two aces each.
Quarles said two things made the difference Thursday night.
“It was the home opener in the sense that we had hosted a tournament, but this was the first time it was just one match,” she said. “I think that and the crowd helped us.”
Both teams hit at a .202 clip, but the home team had 45 kills, compared to only 29 for Middle Georgia.
Hunter MacFarland serves for the Jaguars. (photo by Rodrigo Burgos Avila/the Bell Ringer)
Knight coach Cara MacFarland knows her team was competitive, but did not quite do enough to eke out the win.
“The deciding factor was a little bit of discipline,” MacFarland said. “We made more errors than they did. If we get a little more discipline, I think we will be better off.”
The Knights’ coach was coaching against her sister, AU’s Hunter MacFarland.
“It’s not anything unusual,” the MGSU coach said. “I coached her at Northwestern State before we she came to Augusta and I came to Macon, so now we are on opposite sides. It’s a little family competition.”
Each team struggled with precision on serve. AU had 13 service errors and Middle Georgia totaled 11.
MGSU (0-1, 2-11) was led by outside hitter Caitlyn Wolf with 12 kills.
Augusta did a lot better indeed, as the last match against Mississippi Christian ended with the team losing all 3 sets while acquiring 20 kills and making 23 errors, while Mississippi won with 35 kills while making 13 errors.
Compared to that match, it looked like a whole new team was on the court. AU made a lot of outstanding plays, especially one where Haren made three spectacular saves in a row. Compared to how she played in the previous match, there seemed to be a big change, as statistically she played stronger; in her last match, she had just three kills and had a -.095 hitting percentage. This was a huge jump for her, and she gave the credit to how she wanted to play not for herself but for her team.
“Coming into the game, I was really just focused on being a good teammate, and I think that’s something that really drives us as a team and sticks out in how you act on the court, especially when you’re in one of those ruts,” said the junior transfer.
The team evenly distributed the effort throughout the match and came together to play very well.
“This is how we should play all the time with consistency while having fun,” said Snitsarevych.
In their next match, the Jaguars will host Georgia College and State University on Saturday, Sept. 19, at Christenberry Fieldhouse at 3 p.m.
Contact Anna Biondolillo at abiondolillo@augusta.edu.
AU’s Sofia Snitsarevych (11) and Emma Haren jump to block a spike from Middle Georgia offense. (photo by Anna Biondolillo/the Bell Ringer) At the top of the page, Haren drops the hammer on the Knight blockers. (photo by Rodrigo Burgos Avila/the Bell Ringer)
Sofia Snitsarevych gets one of her nine kills the Jaguars’ straight-sets win over Middle Georgia. (photo by Rodrigo Burgos Avila/the Bell Ringer)
