MOBILE, Ala. - The University of South Alabama volleyball team fought hard Friday evening, but dropped a 3-0 (18-25, 19-25, 24-26) Sun Belt Conference decision to Middle Tennessee Friday evening at Jag Gym.

"I was proud of the girls tonight in that they were competing and kept competing the whole match," South Alabama head coach Nicole Keshock said. "Middle Tennessee is a good team.  There is no doubt about that.  The things we struggled with in the first set, we didn't struggle with toward the end of the match.  In the first set, they were getting clean shots and our block was non-existent.  As the match progressed, we were able to make some adjustments and get better in that area.  There were a few key moments in the match in which you can see where the momentum has change and that happened to us tonight.  We were up in set three and we just didn't finish and we have to be able to do that.  Again though, I was proud of the fact that we played better than the first meeting against them.  I was also glad to see some of our upper classmen who have struggled lately, play better tonight.  We now have to get ready for Western Kentucky tomorrow."

South Alabama (11-18, 2-14 SBC) will close out the 2009 season on Saturday when the Jags host Western Kentucky at 3 p.m.  With the win, the Blue Raiders improve to 21-8 overall and 14-2 in the league.

Juliana Almeida, who was held without a kill in the first meeting with the Blue Raiders this season, had a team-high nine kills in the loss.  Hristina Markova was right behind her with eight of her own.  With her six block assists, sophomore middle blocker Lindsay Schwartz increased her season total to 102 - fourth-most in a single season for the Jags.

Middle Tennessee placed three players in double-digits, led by Ashley Mead's 14.  Alyssa Wistrick and Izabela Kozon also added 10 kills each.

SET ONE: Middle Tennessee 25, South Alabama 18

South Alabama was able to keep things close for most of first set.  After Almeida trimmed the Jag deficit to 11-10 with a kill, the Blue Raiders stretched their lead out to six, picking up six of the next seven points.   USA was unable to get any closer the rest of the way, taking the first set 25-18.  Mead capped off the win for MTSU with one of her six kills in the opening set.

Both clubs came out strong on the offensive side of the net in the first frame.  Middle Tennessee posted 19 kills on 32 attacks, while committing five errors for a .438 hitting percentage.  USA had 11 kills on 25 attacks and committed just three errors for a .320 attack percentage.

SET TWO: Middle Tennessee 25, South Alabama 19

The Blue Raiders came out in the second set and jumped out to a quick 8-3 advantage.  South Alabama though rallied back and began to chip away at the deficit.  Trailing 12-8, USA rattled off five unanswered points and took its first lead of the evening at 13-12 after back-to-back aces from Markova. 

The two clubs kept things close over the next several points until with the Jags holding a one-point advantage (17-16), the Blue Raiders pushed across five-straight points to reclaim the lead for good.  Mead again provided the offense for MTSU, recording three kills during the run.

Middle Tennessee held on to pick up the 25-19 victory after a block from Stacey Oladinni and Lindsay Cheatam.

SET THREE: Middle Tennessee 26, South Alabama 24

In the third set, Middle Tennessee held the momentum for the first half of the frame, leading by as much as four.  Trailing 16-13, South Alabama's defense provided the spark as Jennica Hagberg and Schwartz combined to turn away two consecutive Blue Raider attacks.  The two blocks ignited a run o f six-straight points for the Jags and after a kill from Markova and an MTSU attack error, USA led 19-16.  Later in the set, Markova and Almeida slammed home back-to-back kills to increase the Jag advantage to 21-17 - the largest lead of the night for South Alabama. 

Coming out of a time out, the Blue Raiders again turned to Mead as the senior ignited another MTSU scoring spurt, this one a 6-2 run.  Kozon put Middle Tennessee back out in front at 23-22 with one of her 10 kills.

With the score at 24-24 late in the set, Kozon and Mead broke the tie and gave the Blue Raiders the 26-24 third-set victory when the duo posted two more kills.

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).

-- USA --