AUGUSTA, Ga. -- Top-seeded Armstrong Atlantic State swept fifth-seeded Augusta State 3-0 Saturday night in the semifinals of the Peach Belt Conference Championships in Christenberry Fieldhouse.
With the victory, the Pirates earned a spot in the tourney's championship match Sunday afternoon at 2:00 p.m. AASU will be making its fourth straight appearance in the tournament final and will face second-seeded Flagler for the third straight year. Flagler has won the last two tournament titles.
The victory also lifted the 19th-ranked Pirates to 35-1 overall. The loss brought an end to ASU's season at 16-19. The Jaguars posted a five-win improvement over their victory total from 2010.
Armstrong hit .282 in the match while holding Augusta State to 26 total kills and a .112 percentage. The Pirates jumped out to an early 9-2 lead thanks to Casey Howett, who had three straight service aces. ASU cut that lead down to five at 13-9 following a Jessica Hanson kill and Armstrong ball-handling error, but the Pirates scored four of the next six points to maintain a five-point cushion that ballooned to 10 at the end of the set.
The second set was the most competitive as ASU maintained a narrow lead until the halfway point. Armstrong led by two at 17-15 before breaking the set open with four out of five points. Kills from Brittany Wolf and Brendyce Budd were part of the final stretch that gave AASU the win.
The third set was nearly a carbon copy of the first, as the Pirates broke open an early tie with a 6-2 run. With Budd serving, Armstrong got consecutive kills from Budd, Jessica Santaniello and Leia Pittman. Amanda Jones was the most consistent performer for the Pirates with five kills in the third set including the 24th and 25th points.
Jones led all players with 13 kills in the match while Budd added 10. Santaniello had nine kills and 10 digs while Stacey Davis led Armstrong with 16 digs. Ashley Seal had 37 assists and eight digs.
Kristen Koch had a team-high nine kills for Augusta State while Alex Rohlfing added eight. Krystin Wahlig had 19 assists and was tied for the team lead with Andria Tagarelli with nine digs.
Armstrong and Flagler shared the 2011 PBC regular-season championship, each with a 13-1 league mark, their only losses coming against one another. Flagler handed the Pirates their only loss of the season on their home floor while Armstrong defeated Flagler in Savannah. The two are both nationally ranked, with Armstrong entering the championship 19th and Flagler 24th. The winner of the PBC Tournament receives an automatic bid to the NCAA Southeast Regional.
The contest marked the final appearance in a Jaguar uniform for middle hitter Jessica Hanson, the squad's lone senior. The four-year starter from McKinney, Texas finished the season in a blaze, blasting 91 kills against just seven errors over her final 10 matches. She ended the year ranking fourth in the PBC in hitting percentage (.338), ninth in solo blocks (12), 11th in total blocks (74) and 19th in kills (245).
Armstrong Atlantic State def. Augusta State, 3-0 (25-15, 25-19, 25-17)
