MOBILE, Ala. - The University of South Alabama volleyball team's rally came up just short Saturday evening as the Jags fell 3-2 (22-25, 16-25, 25-14, 25-16, 14-16) to Sun Belt Conference foe Denver at Jag Gym.

"Denver is a good team," South Alabama head coach Nicole Keshock said.  "They are just solid.  This loss hurts because we were playing well.  We beat Denver in nearly every statistical category and on paper, we should have won, but that's not how it works.  I'm proud of this team, because I believe that we finally saw how we are capable of playing.  We haven't played like this for three weeks, only playing like this in spurts.  Tonight, we played almost a full match like we a capable of playing, minus parts of sets one and two.  Now that we see what we can do, we need to carry it into the rest of the season."

USA (11-14, 2-10 SBC) will next travel to Middle Tennessee (Oct. 30) and Western Kentucky (Oct. 31).  Denver improves to 11-13 on the season and 6-4 in the conference.

Juliana Almeida recorded her 10th double-double of the season in the loss finishing the match with a career-high 21 kills and 12 digs.  Almeida also posted a .386 attack percentage in the loss.  Hristina Markova also added 15 kills for the Jags, while sophomore libero Samia Salomao recorded a season-best 26 digs.  Lindsay Schwartz also added a career-high 10 block assists and 11 total blocks.

Denver was paced by Emmy Davidsmeyer's 16 kills.  Alexis Ninos chipped in 10 kills of her own.

South Alabama led the Pioneers in nearly every statistical category, but the key stat of the night was in the serving department, where Denver recorded eight aces, compared to just two by the Jags.  USA also had 12 service errors.

SET ONE: Denver 25, South Alabama 22

Behind the serving of Markova, South Alabama came out and pushed across the first three points of the match - two coming courtesy of a pair of Markova service aces.  The Pioneers quickly narrowed the deficit and the two clubs battled back-and-forth over the remainder of the set.  After exchanging the lead three times and seeing the set tied on 12 occasions, Denver broke a 21-21 tie and took four of the final five points to pick up the win.  Davidsmeyer began the scoring spurt for DU and then clinched the 25-22 set one victory with her fifth kill of the frame. 

SET TWO: Denver 25, South Alabama 16

In the second set, with the Pioneers holding a one-point advantage (9-8), DU rattled off six straight points to increase its lead to 15-8.  Davidsmeyer gave Denver the seven point lead with another put away.  South Alabama could draw no closer the rest of the way as the Pioneers went on to lead by as many as 11 on a couple of occasions before taking the set 25-16.

Ninos provided the offense for Denver in the second set, recording five of her 10 kills in the match.  For the second consecutive set, Almeida paced the Jaguar attack with five kills of her own.  DU also hit over .300, recording 13 kills on 28 attacks, while committing just four errors to give them a .321 percentage.

SET THREE: South Alabama 25, Denver 14

Coming out of the intermission, the Jags seemed to find new life.  Holding a 6-5 advantage, Almeida's 11th kill of the night ignited a run of six unanswered points.  The defense then carried USA for the remainder of the run as the Jags blocked five-straight Denver possessions.  During the scoring run, Schwartz recorded four block assists and one solo block.  Riding the momentum, USA didn't allow the Pioneers to climb back in the set, as the Jags went on to take the set 25-14.

Along with the front line defense, the Jaguar offense also spurred on USA in the third set.  After posting 11 attack errors in the first two sets, South Alabama committed just three in the third set and recorded a .304 attack percentage.

SET FOUR: South Alabama 25, Denver 16

In the fourth frame, the Jags kept the momentum and took six of the first seven points.  Markova's kill capped off the run to begin the set and gave USA the five-point lead.  Holding a 13-9 advantage later in the set, South Alabama broke things open with an 8-3 run to stretch its lead out to 21-12.  The Jags went on to even the match with the 25-16 victory.

During the fourth set, Almeida (7) and Markova (5) paced the South Alabama offense, combining for 12 kills in the frame.  USA also hit a match-best .308 in the set.

SET FIVE: Denver 16, South Alabama 14

With the match tied at two sets apiece, Denver opened up the final set with a 7-1 run, but the Jags clawed their way back and eventually knotted the contest back up at 11-11 after a Pioneer attack error.  With the set still tied at 14, Davidsmeyer gave Denver the lead for good with another kill.  The Pioneers then clinched the set and the match (16-14) after a USA attack error.

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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