DENVER, Colo. ? The University of South Alabama fell 3-0 (16-30, 25-30 and 22-30) to Denver in Sun Belt Conference volleyball action Friday night at Hamilton Gym.
The loss for USA was the 13th straight and drops the Jags to 5-18 overall and 0-11 in the Sun Belt. With the win, Denver improves to 13-9 and 6-4 in the conference. The Lady Jags will next head to Denton, Texas to take on North Texas Sunday at 1 p.m.
In the opener, after a Colleen Downy kill from behind the 10-foot line cut the USA deficit to 8-7, the Lady Pioneers pushed across three-straight points to open up a four-point lead. Emmy Davidsmeyer and Kerry Porter combined for Denver’s second block assists of the contest and the Pioneers held a 16-10 advantage. Errors continued to plague the Jaguar women and after two attack errors and two ball handling errors, the Pioneers led by 12 (24-12). USA was able to cut the deficit back into single digits at 25-16 after a Jenna Swilley kill and a Shannon VanAntwerp service ace, but Denver eventually went on to take game one, 30-16. The key stat of the first game was in the attack percentage category, where DU out-hit USA, .440 to -.125.
Denver raced out to a quick 6-2 lead in game two after a Kim Muller put away, but the Jags battled back and tied the contest back up at 7-7 after a block assists from Lauren Robbins and Brittany Blackwelder. USA claimed its first lead of the night at 9-8, courtesy of a Pioneer ball handling error. The two clubs kept it close over the next nine points until Denver reclaimed the lead at 15-13 after back-to-back kills from Lisa Hunter. After a kill from Porter gave the Pioneers a 20-15 lead, the South Alabama frontline defense book-ended a 6-1 run to tie the contest back up at 21-all with a pair of block assists. The Lady Jags retook the lead at 23-22 after a DU attack error and three points later held a 25-23 lead after Jennifer Johnson slammed home a kill of her own. After a Denver timeout, the Lady Pioneers pushed across seven unanswered points to take the second game 30-25, the last point coming from Hunter, her eighth kill of the night.
Leading 2-0 in the match, the Pioneers looked as if they were going to take complete control early in game three, reeling off the first three points, all courtesy of Muller (two kills and a block assist). The Jags kept battling though and trailing 7-3, Blackwelder dropped in a kill to ignite a 10-1 run. Another kill from Blackwelder capped off the scoring spurt and gave USA a 14-8 lead. With the Jaguar women holding a five point lead (17-12), Denver put together a 10-1 run of its own that was finished off by a solo block from Hunter, giving DU a 22-18 lead. The Pioneers went on to close out the match with the 30-22 victory.
Muller and Hunter led the Pioneers offensively on the night, finishing with 13 and 11 kills, respectively. South Alabama was paced by Swilley and Blackwelder’s who each had a team-high six kills on the night.
