MURFREESBORO, Tenn. ? The University of South Alabama volleyball team fought hard Friday night but fell 3-0 (21-30, 28-30, 28-30) to Middle Tennessee (10-4) in its Sun Belt Conference opener at Alumni Memorial Gym.
South Alabama (5-8) will continue on the road when it faces the defending Sun Belt Champion Western Kentucky Saturday night at 7 p.m. at E.A. Diddle Arena. Live stats for the match versus the Lady Toppers can be accessed at http://www.wkusports.com/live/live1/xlive.htm.
“Obviously we made some mistakes tonight,” said South Alabama head volleyball head coach Nicole Keshock. “Game two should have been ours but we let Middle Tennessee back in it and made some mistakes at crucial moments. In game three it was close and tight and we fought back. This is the best that I have seen us play this year and I think we are just going to get better from here.”
USA led by as many as three (9-6) early on in the opener after Jenna Swilley and Summer Pilgrim combined for their second block assists of the game. With the Jags leading 13-12, the host Lady Raiders reeled off five straight points to reclaim the lead at 17-13. Lauren Robbins ended the MTSU spurt with fourth kill of game one. The Jags kept the deficit at around the five point mark over the next few points but could not draw any closer and eventually fell 30-21. For game one, Middle Tennessee out hit South Alabama .300 to -.029.
Holding a 1-0 match lead, Middle Tennessee jumped out to a quick 4-1 lead in the second game, but USA battled back and tied the contest back up at 6-6 after a Blue Raider attack error. After MTSU pushed its advantage back out to three again, the Lady Jags again fought back and after back-to-back attack errors again from Middle Tennessee, USA held its first lead of the game at 10-9. With the game knotted at 13-13, South Alabama pushed across seven unanswered points to grab a seven point lead at 20-13. The run was capped off by another Jag block assist, this one coming from Kalyn Hundley and Brittany Blackwelder. The Lady Raiders continued to battle and chip away at the Jaguar advantage and after a USA serving error and kills from Victoria Monasterolo and Ashley Adams, Middle Tennessee tied the contest back up at 27-27. On the very next point, the Lady Raiders grabbed the lead for good when Adams and Ashley Asberry combined for a block assist. MTSU held on for the win and took the 30-28 victory after a Jaguar attack error.
In the finale, the Lady Raiders led by as many as six early on at 12-6 after an Adams kill. Trailing 13-9, USA trimmed the deficit to 13-12 after three straight kills from Swilley, Hundley and Robbins. Blackwelder later tied the contest back up at 15-all with her sixth kill of the night and USA took its first lead of game three on the next point after a MTSU attack error. Over the next several points, the two clubs kept it tight with neither able to get more that a two point advantage. With the Jags trailing by two at 23-21, Swilley ignited another unanswered spurt, this time a 5-0 run that put South Alabama up 26-23. Down 28-26, Middle Tennessee rallied to take the final five points of the match, four of which came from Jessica Robinson and seal the match victory with the 30-28 win.
South Alabama was led on the night offensively by Robbins and Swilley, with 13 and 12 kills, respectively. Murfreesboro native, Stephanie Cutter recorded a double-double on the night with 31 assists and 10 digs in front of her hometown crowd. Adams and Monasterolo each had 11 kills to lead the way for Middle Tennessee.
