Ace Hunt

GoSycamores.com

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- Melody Burdette recorded a career-high 22 kills and Rachel Griffin chipped in a career-best 55 assists but South Alabama took Indiana State's season opener on Friday afternoon in five sets by the score of 3-2.

The Jaguars narrowly defeated the Sycamores 25-23 in the first set before Indiana State came back with a 25-21 victory in set two. USA came back with a 25-20 win in the third set before Indiana State used a dominating attack to win set four by the score of 25-18. South Alabama used an early advantage and withstood a Sycamore comeback attempt to take the fifth set and the match by the score of 15-9.

Burdette posted a career-best 22 kills in the match and recorded a .333 hitting percentage. She is the first Sycamore to record at least 20 kills in one match since Morgan Dall did in 2013 against Northern Iowa. Griffin tallied 55 assists which bettered her career best by 20 from a match against Southern Illinois last season. Kynedi Nalls posted 16 kills while Bree Spangler added 13.

Shannon Murphy was credited with 21 digs while Spangler, Cassie Kawa and Murphy each had a service ace. The Sycamores posted seven total blocks on the day while freshman Damadj Johnson tallied five block assists. Burdette led the way with 23.5 points while Nalls added 16.5 and Spangler wrapped up the double digit scorers with 14.

Indiana State recorded 66 kills in the match for a .312 hitting percentage. The Sycamores best attack percentage came in the second set with 16 kills against just two errors for a sparkling mark of .438. ISU also tallied a .393 percentage in the third set and had 18 kills with a .371 percentage in the fourth set.

With the score knotted at one early in set one, South Alabama recorded five points in a row for the 6-1 advantage. ISU scored three in a row to cut the deficit to 7-4 and grew their advantage to 20-13 later in the set. The Sycamores scored two in a row to claw closer and a kill by Spangler on USA's first set point got ISU within 24-23 before the Jaguars closed it out with a kill by Iva Durdanovic for the 25-23 win.

Nalls got things going for the Sycamores in set two with a kill before the teams remained relatively even at 12-12. ISU scored two in a row on kills by Burdette and after allowing one point, scored three in a row for the 17-13 advantage on a kill by Cassie Kawa. Johnson's kill later in the set paired with a service ace from Kawa staked the Sycamores to a 20-14 advantage. A South Alabama error gave the Sycamores a 24-21 lead and Burdette finished it off with a kill and the 25-21 win which leveled the match.

Indiana State took an early 2-1 lead before the Jaguars scored four in a row as they surged ahead 5-2. ISU used a kill from Burdette to level the score at six and she had another two points later to even things up at 7-7. An error by South Alabama inched the Sycamore closer at 20-19, but the Jaguars were able to score five of the last six points as they took a 2-1 lead in the match with the 25-20 victory.

With the set tied at 5, three consecutive points by the Scores netted the Sycamores an 8-5 advantage. USA trimmed the lead down to 11-8, but a kill from Kynedi Nalls started a 4-0 run which ended with a Jaguars' error and ISU led 15-8. A kill by Bree Spanger staked the Sycamores to a 23-17 lead and then Nalls had the kill to move the Sycamores into set point. South Alabama committed an attack error and ISU won the fourth set 25-18 and evened the match at 2.

Burdette scored first for the Sycamores in the fifth set, but South Alabama countered with four in a row to force a Sycamore timeout. Indiana State scored twice in a row on a kill from Nalls as well as a USA attack error to get within 8-5. Block assists from Nalls and Kawa got ISU within 9-6. Burdette posted her final kill to get ISU within 12-9, but South Alabama scored the final three points to win the set 15-9 and the match 3-2.

For South Alabama, Mechell Daniel led the way with 15 kills and as a team they recorded a .222 attack percentage for the match.

Indiana State returns to action on Friday evening when they take on host Samford in their second match of the Marriot Invitational. First serve is set for 8:00 p.m. (ET).