Jaguars get the reverse sweep over Lee University
Staff report
The Augusta University volleyball team rallied from two sets down to defeat Lee University in five sets on Friday, Sept. 4, at Christenberry Fieldhouse in the AU/USC Aiken Invitational.
Nikol Antova had 17 kills and Sofia Snitsarevych added 10 to lead the Jaguars to a 17-25, 24-26, 25-21, 25-22, 15-11 victory.
After the Flames had won the first set with relative ease, Augusta began to battle back in what turned out to be a very tight second set.
From there, the Jaguars (2-2) rode the strong front-line play of Antova and Snitsarevych, as well as the superior serving of Andrea Rodriguez and Hunter MacFarland. Rodriguez would finish with six aces and MacFarland with four for the victors.
“We had glimpses of what we could do in the first set where we were finding our rhythm,” said AU coach Sharon Quarles. “But we had a few mental errors. When we found our rhythm, that’s where you could see that we were becoming more comfortable.”
Augusta fell behind 3-0 in the final set, but then went on a 15-8 run to claim the match.
Rodriguez, the sophomore setter, finished with a game-high 40 assists, quarterbacking the AU attack. Emma Haren added support with 12 digs and two aces. Essence Jones added nine kills for the Jaguars.
Jasmine Terry led Lee (2-1) with 14 kills.
The Flames just edged the Jaguars in attack percentage at .215, compared to .196 for AU.
Quarles’ team will play North Greenville at 5 p.m. on Friday, and then take on Carson-Newman at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 5, and then finish off the tournament with a nightcap against Shorter University at 6:30 p.m. All matches are at Christenberry Fieldhouse.
More to come …
Augusta’s Nikol Antova (16) powers home another kill in the Jaguars’ five-set win over Lee University; she finished with 17 kills in that match. At the top of the page, AU senior Layne Witherspoon celebrates the reverse sweep win over the Flames. (photos by Brelynn Crewe/the Bell Ringer)
Layne Witherspoon (20) and Andrea Rodriguez (1) go up for the block as teammate Emma Haren (7) watches. (photo by Brelynn Crewe/the Bell Ringer)
