Box Score

STATESBORO, Ga. – The University of South Alabama volleyball team defeated Georgia Southern in straight sets (25-22, 25-20, 25-17) Saturday at Hanner Fieldhouse to capture the first Sun Belt Conference regular-season championship in program history.

South Alabama (22-6, 15-1 SBC) closed its regular-season schedule with a league-best and program-record 15 Sun Belt wins and just one loss. Saturday's win over Georgia Southern also extended the Jaguars' win streak to 10 games. 

GAME FACTS
Set 1
- South Alabama doubled its lead to 8-4 on a kill by Kailey Keeble.
- A 3-0 Jaguar run that featured a kill by Carissa Bradford and block-assist from Hannah Maddux and Kennedy Wallace gave USA an 18-11 lead.
- Georgia Southern cut the Jag lead to 21-17 on consecutive kills by Hannah McGlockton to cap a 4-0 run.
- An Eagle attack error pushed the Jaguar advantage to 23-17, but Georgia Southern went on a 5-0 run to cut the USA lead to 23-22. 
- South Alabama earned set point at 24-22 on a kill by Niki Capizzi, and clinched the set 25-22 on an Eagle attack error.

Set 2
- A solo block by Wallace gave the Jags a 7-6 lead.
- Consecutive kills by the Eagles' Jordan Christy tied the score 8-8.
- USA took an 11-8 lead with a 3-0 run that included a block-assist by Maddux and Wallace, and a service ace by Madisen Werdell.
- Kills by Capizzi and Wallace gave South Alabama a 17-13 lead. Consecutive kills by Keeble and Maddux extended the USA lead to 19-15 before a 3-0 Eagle run cut the lead to 19-18. 
- South Alabama responded with a 3-0 run, highlighted by a kill by Maddux, to take a 22-18 lead.
- USA earned set point at 24-19 on a block-assist by Capizzi and Maddux, and clinched the set 25-20 on a another block-assist by Capizzi and Maddux.

Set 3
- Georgia Southern scored the first point of the set on a service ace, but South Alabama went on a 5-0 run that featured a service ace by Rachel Hickey and block-assist from Maddux and Capizzi to take a 5-1 lead.
- Consecutive block-assists from Capizzi and Maddie Soboleski followed by back-to-back kills by Capizzi and service ace from Paige Lynn accounted for a 5-0 Jaguar run to extended the lead to 10-2
- A 4-0 Jag run that opened with a kill by Keeble and capped by a block-assist from Wallace and Keeble pushed the South Alabama advantage to 14-3.
- USA later earned match point at 24-16 on a kill by Carissa Bradford, and clinched the set 25-17 on an Eagle service error.

NOTES 
- The win marked South Alabama's 10th straight victory, marking the longest win streak by a Jaguar team since the 1987 squad won 15 consecutive matches.
- Maddux finished with a game-high 13 kills, .565 hitting percentage three digs, five total blocks and a game-high 15.5 points.
- Keeble finished one dig shy of a double-double, recording 32 assists and nine digs along with three kills and two total blocks.
- Capizzi added eight kills, .294 hitting percentage, one service ace, seven total blocks and 13 points.
- The Jaguars' 15 SBC wins set a program record for league wins in a season.

QUOTES
Head Coach Jesse Ortiz
- On winning the first Sun Belt Conference championship in program history:
"We (coaching staff) got extremely lucky with a bunch of talent that was here – with kids who stayed and we recruited some players who came in, and they were just lights out. We are blessed to have a ton of talent at South, and that's been one of the reasons why we've been successful along with the fact that we have a bunch of big brains on the roster. We all learned together, and I think that helped make us more of a family and in crunch times those bonds helped us pursue when we were struggling. I'm extremely proud of my group for sure."

- On the win:
"We served extremely well. And just like last night, they were trying to camp out on our outsides and it made us be not as efficient on that antenna but when you do that you're going to leave us a little more one-on-one in the middle and the right. I just think we're a handful at all spots on the net, so it was a little pick-your-poison and thankfully for us we were able to execute when they were doing that to us. Our hats go off to Georgia Southern; it is a beautiful venue and they have a great team, but it was just the Jaguars' night tonight."

- On prepping for next week's Sun Belt Conference Championship:
"One of the things we do is just rest our bodies. We've played a lot of volleyball as of late pushing toward getting this, so we get as much rest as we can. As a coaching staff, we make sure we look and scout our opponents that we may play and you just prepare yourself as best you can. The other part of this that is probably the most important part is don't forget this is just a game. We're supposed to laugh every day we do this, and love what we do. I want to make sure that they're not burdened down at the end of the year here. We go play our best ball and if you're the better team and beat us then good for you, congrats and best of luck as you move on. But we want to be playing our best game right now and we feel like we can still do that."

UP NEXT
South Alabama will return to action Fri., Nov. 19, when it opens play at the Sun Belt Conference Championship at 2:30 p.m. in Foley, Ala.

For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with USAJaguars.com, and follow the Jaguars at Twitter.com/WeAreSouth_JAGS. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).

Join the Rally Score Club, the volleyball specific support club of the Jaguar Athletic Fund. All donations to the Rally Score Club go directly to support the South Alabama volleyball program. For more information on how you can join visit:  jaguarathleticfund.com/rallyscoreclub.