TALLAHASSEE, Fla. ? The South Alabama women’s volleyball team dropped a five-set heartbreaker 3-2 (30-17, 12-30, 30-23, 27-30, 15-12) Saturday afternoon to Stetson in its final match at the FSU Invitational held at Lucy Memorial Court at Tully Gym.

USA (2-3) will next head to Hattiesburg, Miss., to take on regional foe Southern Miss Tuesday at 7 p.m.

With the Lady Jags leading by one at 9-8 early in game one, South Alabama reeled off four unanswered points to push its lead out to 13-8 and after Stetson (1-4) pushed two points, the Jags again went on a 7-0 run to give South Alabama a 20-10 advantage.  The USA scoring spurt was led by Summer Pilgrim, who did the job both on offense and defense, recording three kills, a solo block, a block assist and a service ace during the run.  Colleen Downey also chipped in with three service aces of her own during that stretch.  Jenna Swilley finished off the opener for South Alabama with a monster kill that gave the Jag women a 30-17 victory.

The Lady Hatters opened game two with a 9-3 spurt that was capped off by back-to-back kills from Rebecca Orzechowicz and Gina Iacona.  USA kept battling and an after back-to-back kills of its own from Swilley and Downey, the Jags cut the deficit to 14-10.  Stetson, however, did not allow USA to get any closer as the Hatters ended the game with a 16-2 run to take the second game, 30-12.  After coming out hitting .333 in the first contest, the Jags dropped to -.087 in the second.

Tied at 8-8 in game three, USA scored seven of the next nine points to grab a five point lead at 15-10.  The Hatters kept the deficit at around the five point mark until with the Jags leading 21-17, USA was able to push three straight points to increase its lead to seven (24-17).  Stetson closed the gap to five (27-22) after a Beth Slabaugh kill and a Rachel Miller ace, but USA held on to take the third game, 30-23.  Taylor Irvin sealed the victory for South Alabama with her fourth kill of the afternoon.

Like game two, Stetson came out of the gates and jumped out to a 10-3 lead after a Miller ace.  The Lady Hatters led by as many as 11 at 26-15 after a Jaguar error, but South Alabama fought back.  After an Orzechowicz kill put SU up 27-19, USA began to mount its charge.  Led by Swilley’s offense and outstanding digs on defense, the Jag women put together a 7-1 run to cut the deficit to 28-26.  The rally however came up short as Stetson held on for a 30-27 victory to knot the match up at 2-2.

In the finale, the Lady Jags trailed by one early, but led again by Swilley, USA reeled off four straight points to take a 5-2 lead.  After a Hatter timeout, Stetson was able to take seven of the next 10 points to grab a 9-6 advantage.  Three straight Jag kills from Kalyn Hundley, Taylor Irvin and Brittany Blackwelder though quickly tied the contest back up at 9-9.  Stetson regained the lead though after two consecutive Jag errors and went on to take the game and match with the 15-12 victory.

Swilley led four Jaguars in double digit kills with a match-high 22 kills.  Also finishing in double figures in the category was Blackwelder and Hundley with 13 kills each and Pilgrim with 11.  Hundley also added 13 digs to give the Gulf Breeze, Fla., native a double-double.  Stetson was led offensively by Orechowicz who finished with 18 kills and 15 digs of her own.