MOBILE, Ala. ? Despite Juliana Pallamin de Almeida’s second straight double-double performance of the season, the University of South Alabama volleyball team dropped a tough 3-1 (15-25, 15-25, 25-20, 29-31) decision to Arkansas State Thursday evening in its home Sun Belt Conference opener at Jag Gym.

The loss for the Jags (6-5, 0-3 SBC) is the third straight.  USA will look to rebound on Sunday afternoon when it welcomes SBC West Division leader UALR at Noon.  With the win, the Red Wolves improve to 13-4 on the season and 3-1 in league play.

Almeida was the lone Jag to finish the match in double figures offensively, collecting 14 kills, while also posting 10 digs.  Lindsay Schwartz and Tereza Bendlova also chipped in with nine and eight kills, respectively.  Schwartz was also solid on defense, finishing the night with seven block assists.  ASU placed four players in double figures offensively in the win led by Cayla Fielder’s 14.  Christin Baker (11), Mafo Joelle (11) and Konae Purcell (10) were the other three players for ASU to record double digit tallies in the category.

SET ONE: Arkansas State 25, South Alabama 15

The Red Wolves came out on fire offensively in the opening set, hitting a combined .429.  Baker and Fielder each led the way for ASU, posting four kills each.  Bendlova had four of her own to lead USA.  Arkansas State jumped out early on the Jags and led through out.  Holding a four point advantage at 9-5, Baker ignited a 8-3 spurt for the Red Wolves over the next 11 points that stretched ASU’s advantage to nine (17-8).  USA had no answer for the remainder of the set, eventually falling 25-15.

SET TWO: Arkansas State 25, South Alabama 15

In the second set, Arkansas State took the lead for good when with South Alabama holding the early lead at 4-3, the Red Wolves were able to push across five straight unanswered points.  The Jags closed the gap to two on a few occasions over the next several points, until Arkansas State again made another push, eventually stretching out its lead again. The story in set two was the front line defense of ASU.  In the set, the Red Wolves recorded 11 of their 22 block assists, shutting down the offensive attack of USA.

SET THREE: South Alabama 25, Arkansas State 20

Coming out of the intermission and trailing 2-0 in the match, USA seemed to find its rhythm offensively.  After hitting a combined .054 through the first two sets, the Jags bounced back in set three to record their best percentage of the match at .414.  The two teams went back-and-forth for the first half of the set, exchanging the lead four times and seeing the contest tied up on six occasions.  Trailing at 12-11, Schwartz and Hristina Markova put the Jags out in front for good when the duo slammed home back-to-back kills.  Later in the set, holding a 22-20 lead, South Alabama was able to push across the final three points of the set to take the 25-20 victory and narrow ASU’s match lead to 2-1.

SET FOUR: Arkansas State 31, South Alabama 29

The fourth and final set proved to be the most exciting of the match as both sides made remarkable plays on defense to keep rallies alive.  Neither team was able to gain any kind of real advantage on the other, as the set showcased 15 ties and eight lead changes.  USA looked as if it might push the match to a fifth set at the midway point when after another kill from Schwartz, the Jags led 19-15.  ASU continued to battle and eventually retook the lead at 22-21 after a Jaguar attack error.  Pushed to extra points and tied at 29-29, the Red Wolves were able to take the set and the match after two more South Alabama attack errors. 

For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com.  Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).

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