AUGUSTA, Ga. – Augusta University volleyball closed the Augusta/USC Aiken Invitational Saturday with a pair of five-set losses, falling 3-2 to unbeaten Carson-Newman before dropping a 3-2 decision to Shorter. The Jaguars moved to 2-5 on the season.
Augusta 2, Carson-Newman 3
Augusta battled Carson-Newman through five sets before falling 16-25, 25-16, 20-25, 25-22, 9-15.
Nikol Antova led Augusta with 17 kills and 10 digs, while Emma Haren recorded 13 kills on .250 hitting and a team-high 15 digs. Essence Jones added 11 kills, and Layne Witherspoon finished with 10 kills on .296 hitting. Sofiia Snitsarevych added seven kills on .273 hitting and five block assists.
After dropping the opening set, Augusta responded with one of its strongest offensive sets of the tournament, putting down 14 kills without an attack error to hit .389 in a 25-16 win. Carson-Newman took the third before a back-and-forth fourth set featured 16 ties and five lead changes. Augusta hit .342 with 15 kills to pull out the 25-22 win and force a fifth.
Carson-Newman broke away in the deciding set, hitting .280 to take it 15-9 and remain unbeaten.
Augusta 2, Shorter 3
Augusta took the first two sets against Shorter before the Hawks rallied for a 20-25, 18-25, 25-18, 25-22, 15-8 victory.
The Jaguars came out strong offensively, hitting .400 with 15 kills in the opening set. Augusta followed with a 25-18 win in the second to take a 2-0 advantage before Shorter responded to force a fifth.
Antova finished with 16 kills and 18 digs for another double-double. Jones added 14 kills on .278 hitting, while Snitsarevych recorded eight kills on .286 hitting. Isis Barrett added six kills on .267 hitting and four block assists. Andrea Rodríguez finished with 42 assists and 11 digs, while Hunter MacFarland added 14 digs. Moni Anjous recorded 11 digs.
Shorter hit .293 in the fourth to extend the match and then .333 in the fifth, taking the deciding set 15-8.
Up Next
Augusta travels to Clinton, Mississippi, next weekend for the PBC/Gulf South Crossover. The Jaguars open Friday, Sept. 11, against Montevallo at 11 a.m. before facing Alabama Huntsville at 3 p.m.
