Box Score - Middle Tennessee 3, South Alabama 0

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – The eighth-seeded University of South Alabama volleyball team dropped a 3-0 (16-25, 21-25, 13-25) decision to top-seeded Middle Tennessee Thursday night in the opening round of the 2010 Sun Belt Conference Championships held at Alumni Memorial Gym on the Blue Raider campus.

“We played well at times, but it just wasn’t enough against Middle Tennessee tonight,” South Alabama head coach Nicole Keshock said.  “I’m really encouraged by what I saw from our younger players and proud that they had this experience.”

With the loss, South Alabama ends the 2010 season with an 11-21 record.  Despite the record, there were a couple of highlights from the campaign as USA recorded six conference wins for the first time in the program’s history.  The tournament was also the second in the last three years, marking the first time since the 2000 and 2001 seasons. 

Middle Tennessee improves to 26-5 with the win and advances to the semifinals where they will face either fourth-seeded Arkansas State or fifth-seeded North Texas on Friday at 7:30 p.m.

Juliana Almeida and Samia Salomao paced South Alabama offensively in the loss with 10 and nine kills, respectively Jenna Hassell also added 10 digs.

The Sun Belt’s Player of the Year, Izabela Kozon led all players with a match-high 17 kills and hit .516.  Stacy Oladini had eight kills of her own, while Maria Szivos chipped in with seven.

SET ONE: Middle Tennessee 25, South Alabama 16

The tourney host Blue Raiders set the tone early, opening the first set by picking up seven of the first nine points, including the first three of the match.  Kozon spurred the early MTSU run with three of her five kills in the set. 

USA was able to trim the deficit to as little as three over the next several points, but with Middle Tennessee holding a 10-6 lead, the Blue Raiders pushed across three-straight points to extend their lead out to seven.  From there, South Alabama was only able to get as close as five (16-11) after kills from Almeida and Olivia Mohler, before Middle Tennessee went on to take the opening set, 25-16.

The Jags didn’t help themselves offensively in the first set as they committed seven attack errors and hit just a .032.  MTSU committed just four miscues and hit a .206, while also recording three service aces.

SET TWO: Middle Tennessee 25, South Alabama 21

In the second set, MTSU again raced out of the gates, jumping out to a 6-1 advantage.  Kozon and Oladinni keyed the Blue Raider run, combining for five of their first six points.  USA was able to trim the deficit to 11-8 after a pair of Middle Tennessee attack errors and kills from Salomao and Torlandria Jones, but the tourney’s top seed regained the momentum and stretched its lead out to eight (22-14).

Led by the duo of Almeida and Salomao, the Jags rallied back and again cut the deficit to three at 23-20.  Almeida began the charge with a kill and an ace.  Salomao then recorded USA’s next three points with three-straight kills.  Kozon slammed home two more kills though over the next three points of the set and sealed the 25-21 win to put the Blue Raiders up 2-0 in the match.

After not recording a kill in the first set, Salomao bounced back to lead the Jags with eight in the second set.

SET THREE: Middle Tennessee 25, South Alabama

Like the previous two sets in the match, Middle Tennessee grabbed the momentum from the start and opened the third set on another 6-1 scoring spurt.  Maria Szivos led the Blue Raider attack early on in the final frame, recording five kills during MTSU’s first 10 points.   Middle Tennessee never allowed the Jags to make a run or get any closer as the Blue Raiders clinched the match and advanced in the tournament with the 25-13.

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).

NOTES:  South Alabama is now 11-29 all-time record in the Sun Belt tournament, including 0-2 versus Middle Tennessee.  Senior outside hitter ends her career in a Jaguar uniform ranked fifth in kills on the program’s all-time chart with 1,142.