MOBILE, Ala. ? The South Alabama volleyball team fought hard and pushed Sun Belt Conference West Division leader UALR to five sets, but that was not enough as the Jags fell 3-2 (21-25, 22-25, 25-20, 25-23, 7-15) to the Trojans Sunday afternoon at Jag Gym.

South Alabama (6-6, 0-4 SBC) will look to rebound on Monday night when it host in-state rival Troy at 7 p.m.  UALR improves to 16-2 and 4-0 in Sun Belt action with the match victory. 

USA placed four players in double figures, led by Juliana Pallamin de Almeida’s 16 kills.  Almeida also recorded her third straight double-double, ending the match with 10 digs.  Lindsay Schwartz was also chipped in with 14 kills of her own, followed by Hristina Markova (13) and Brittany Blackwelder (11).  Freshman libero Samia Salomao led the club defensively with a match-high 22 digs. 

UALR was paced by Amila Barakovic’s match-high 18 kills and Anita Bucur’s 17 kills. 

SET ONE: UALR 25, South Alabama 21

Unlike its previous three SBC matches, USA came out ready to play in the opening set versus UALR.  Neither team was able to gain much of an advantage for much of the set, exchanging the lead six times and seeing 11 ties.  Barakovic led the offensive attack early on as she recorded six of her kills in the first set and led the Trojans to a .440 hitting percentage.  UALR was able to pull away late in the frame, when Barakovic ignited a 4-1 run to give the Trojans the 25-21 victory.

SET TWO: UALR 25, South Alabama 22

In set number two, UALR led by as many as five early on.  USA kept chipping away at the Trojan advantage and after back-to-back kills from Schwartz and a put away from Almeida, the Jags took their first lead of the set at 19-18.  After exchanging the next several points, Barakovic broke a 20-20 tie and put UALR out in front for good with another kill.  The Trojans held on to take the 2-0 match lead with the 25-22 victory.

SET THREE: South Alabama 25, UALR 20

After trailing by as many as four early on in the third set, USA kept fighting and battled back to tie the contest all up at 13-13.  With the set all square, South Alabama pushed across five-straight unanswered points to jump out in front 18-13.  UALR answered right back and seven points later, tied the set back up at 19-19 after a Katie McCutcheon kill.  The momentum didn’t last long though as Schwartz again had the answer for the Jags, slamming home another kill.  The Schwartz kill ignited a spurt of four more unanswered points for USA, as the Jags went on to take the 25-20 set three win.

SET FOUR: South Alabama 25, UALR 23

USA trailed for much of the fourth set, but like in the previous one, kept battling back and eventually tied thing back up after another kill from Schwartz tied the set at 19-all.  Markova later put South Alabama out in front for good with a kill of her own, as USA held on to even the match up at 2-2 with the 25-23 win. 

SET FIVE: UALR 15, South Alabama 7

The Trojans quickly ended any hopes of comeback for the Jags as they opened the final set with a 7-3 run, including the first four points of the set, and never looked back.  Beck Mann sealed the victory with a kill of her own.

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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