MIAMI ? The University of South Alabama volleyball team fought hard in games one and two against Florida International Saturday night, but Yarimar Rosa was too much for the Jags as FIU captured a 3-0 (26-30, 27-30, 12-30) Sun Belt Conference victory at Pharmed Arena.

USA (5-10, 0-5 SBC) will return home for three matches in three days next weekend, beginning with Louisiana-Monroe on Friday night at 7 p.m.  Florida International improves to 10-2 on the year and remains perfect in league play with a 5-0 mark.

Yarimar Rosa, the SBC Preseason Player of the Year, led all players with a match-high 20 kills on the night.  USA was paced by Brittany Blackwelder’s nine kills.

GAME ONE: Florida International 30, South Alabama 26

The opener was a tight affair for much of the contest with neither team able to use a big run to pull away from the other. Game one saw the two clubs tied on 10 occasions and exchange the lead another five times.  The Golden Panthers took the lead for good when with the score knotted up at 23-23, they pushed across four straight points.  Rosa later gave FIU the 30-26 game one victory when she put down back-to-back kills.

GAME TWO: Florida International 30, South Alabama 27

In the second game with USA holding an early two-point lead at 5-2, Florida International posted the first big run of the match.  Trailing by three, the Golden Panthers exploded on a 10-1 run over the next 11 points to grab a 12-6 lead.  Rosa later put FIU up by its largest margin at 17-8 with one of her eight kills in game two.  USA kept battling though and with the Golden Panthers holding an eight-point lead at 19-11, the Jags responded with a big run of their own.  Juliana Pallamin de Almeida book ended a 6-0 run with a pair of kills.  South Alabama narrowed the gap to as little as one on two occasions, but the Golden Panthers were able to hang on for the 30-27 game two win.

GAME THREE: Florida International 30, South Alabama 12