MOBILE, Ala.  ?  The University of South Alabama women’s volleyball team put up a valiant effort Friday night by fell 3-1 (30-21, 30-21, 29-31, 30-16) to Middle Tennessee at Jag Gym in Sun Belt Conference action.  The loss drops the Jags to 5-21 on the season and 0-14 in the conference, while the Lady Raiders improve to 21-7 and 12-3 in the SBC.

“I told our team after the match that I am proud of the way that they are still fighting and competing at this point in the season,” said South Alabama women’s volleyball head coach Nicole Keshock.  “A lot of other teams in our position would not be doing what they are.  The girls said that tonight was the best they have felt as a team on the floor in a while and I am happy to see that towards the end of the season with how things have been going.”

South Alabama will play its final home match of the season on Saturday when the Lady Jags welcome East Division leader Western Kentucky.  Match time is set for 2 p.m. and prior to the start of the contest, USA will honor four players as part of its annual Senior Day festivities.

In game one with Middle Tennessee leading by two at 12-10, the Lady Raiders broke the game open with a 10-2 run that was capped off by a Quanshell Scott kill, one of her eight on the night, to put MTSU up 22-14.  USA was able to trim the deficit to six (24-18) after a setting error from the Blue Raiders, but that was as close as the Jags got in the opener.  Middle Tennessee’s Ashley Adams closed out game one with back-to-back kills and gave MT the 30-21 victory.

South Alabama came out in the second contest and quickly jumped out to a 5-1 lead after consecutive Lady Raider attack errors, but MTSU tied the contest back up at 7-7 after another Adams putaway.  The game remained close until with USA holding a 15-14 advantage after a Jenna Swilley kill, Middle Tennessee’s Scott ignited a 9-1 spurt that saw the Raiders grab a 23-16 lead.  Middle Tennessee did not allow the Jaguar women to rally and went on to take the second game 30-21. 

Coming out of the intermission, MTSU held the early advantage, but the Jags kept battling and after a service ace from Kalyn Hundley and a block assists from Jade Nuss and Brittany Blackwelder, South Alabama reclaimed the lead at 14-13.  For much of the rest of the game, USA held the advantage, only allowing Middle Tennessee to get as close as one on several occasions.  The Lady Raiders finally retook the lead (29-28) after consecutive kills from Adams and Victoria Monasterlo, but after a Jaguar timeout, USA reeled off the final three points to cut the match deficit to 2-1.  The Lady Jag defense proved to be the difference down the stretch as Blackwelder combined with both Hundley and Swilley for two straight block assists to capture the 31-29 victory.

In the fourth and deciding game though, Middle Tennessee took control from the outset, racing out to a 6-1 lead and never looking back.  The Lady Raiders went on to close out the match with the 30-16 victory.   

South Alabama offensively on the night was led by Swilley’s 11 kills, while Middle Tennessee received a match-high 23 kills from Adams. Blackwelder finished the night with a career-high nine block assists and Shannon VanAntwerp recorded a team-high 21 digs.