MOBILE, Ala. ? The South Alabama volleyball team tried to rally in game three Friday night but it was not enough as the Jags dropped their Sun Belt Conference opener 3-0 (22-30, 12-30, 28-30) at Jag Gym.

South Alabama (5-6, 0-1 SBC) will continue league play on Saturday when it takes on Western Kentucky at 2 p.m.  With the win, Middle Tennessee improves to 14-1 on the season and 1-0 in the Sun Belt.

USA was paced by Brittany Blackwelder’s eight kills on the night, while Middle Tennessee had three players record double digits in that category led by Ashley Mead’s 14.  Jag senior libero Shannon VanAntwerp did provide a bright spot in game one when she registered her 1,000 career dig.  She is just the fourth Jag to ever do so.

GAME ONE: Middle Tennessee 30, South Alabama 22

In the opener, the Blue Raiders broke an early 6-6 tie and took control when they scored 11 of the next 14 points to take a 17-9 lead.  During the run, USA didn’t help its cause much as it committed five attack errors and a serving error.  South Alabama was unable to draw any closer the rest of the way, as Middle Tennessee took a 1-0 match lead with the eight point victory.  MTSU’s Mead led the way with seven of her 14 kills in the opener and the Blue Raiders came out firing on all cylinders, recording a blistering .514 attack percentage. 

GAME TWO: Middle Tennessee 30, South Alabama 12

Game two was never really in doubt as USA could only manage 12 points for the game, its second lowest game output this season.  Izabela Kozon put Middle Tennessee up 13-4 with one of her seven kills in the match.  Julilana Pallamin de Almeida brought the Jags to within eight (18-10), but the Blue Raiders closed the game on a 12-2 run to take the 30-12 win.  The key stat of the second game was again in the hitting percentage department, where the Jags hurt themselves with a -.222 percentage.  Middle Tennessee was again very efficient, hitting .448.

GAME THREE: Middle Tennessee 30, South Alabama 28

Coming out of the intermission, USA showed the most fight that it had all night, keeping the match close.  Neither team was able to take more than a two point advantage on the other for much of the contest and after a Middle Tennessee miscue, the Jags took their first lead of the night at 15-14.  Later in game three trailing 25-24, Middle Tennessee came out of a time out and recorded three straight points to take the lead for good.  Ashley Adams sealed the match and the game with one of her 10 kills on the night.