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Box Score

FOLEY, Ala. – The University of South Alabama volleyball team defeated Georgia State in straight sets (25-19, 25-20, 25-19) in Friday's Sun Belt Conference Championship quarterfinal at Foley Sports Complex.

South Alabama (23-6) extended its win streak to 11 games, and advanced to Saturday's semifinal to face UT Arlington, the No. 2 seed out of the SBC West Division, at 4 p.m. 

Jaguar setter Kailey Keeble recorded her 17th double-double of the season with 29 assists and 11 digs, while Hannah Maddux and Carissa Bradford finished with eight kills apiece.

GAME FACTS
Set 1
- GSU held a 4-2 lead before a 5-0 Jaguar run that featured consecutive kills by Niki Capizzi gave USA a 7-4 lead.
- The Panthers cut the Jag lead to 9-8 with a 3-0 run, and tied the score 10-10 following back-to-back kills by Julianna Truscott.
- Georgia State took a 13-12 lead with a 3-0 scoring run.
- The Jags used a 4-0 run, highlighted by a kill from Carissa Bradford, to take a 19-16 lead. 
- A 3-0 Jaguar run that included a kill by Hannah Maddux and block-assist from Kennedy Wallace and Maddie Soboleski gave the Jags a 23-19 advantage.
- South Alabama earned set point at 24-19 on a Panther attack error, and clinched the set 25-19 on a kill by Maddux for a 1-0 lead in the match. 

Set 2
- The Jags opened up an 11-3 lead after a 7-0 run that featured kills by Soboleski and Bradford.
- A 3-0 Panther run cut the Jag lead to 11-6 before a kill by Capizzi doubled the USA lead to 12-6.
- South Alabama extended its lead to 18-12 with a 3-0 run that included kills by Maddux and Soboleski, and a solo block by Capizzi.
- Georgia State went on a 4-0 run, aided by a Jaguar attack error, service error and ball-handling error, to cut the USA advantage to 18-16.
- The Panthers tied the score 20-20 on consecutive kills by Julianna Truscott and Julia Brown.
- USA then went on a 5-0 run to close the set, earning set point at 24-20 on a service ace by Kailey Keeble and clinching the set 25-20 on a block-assist by Maddux and Wallace for a 2-0 lead.

Set 3
- Georgia State used a pair of 3-0 scoring runs to build a 6-1 lead.
- South Alabama later went on a 7-0 run, highlighted by a pair of kills from Bradford, and block-assists by Keeble and Wallace and Bradford and Wallace, to take an 11-8 lead.
- The Jags pushed their lead to 15-9 with a 4-0 run on kills by Bradford, Maddux, Wallace and Panther attack error. 
- A 3-0 Jaguar run that included a kill by Maddux gave USA an 18-10 lead.
- South Alabama later earned set point at 24-19 on a kill by Keeble, and clinched the set 25-19 on a solo block by Kennedy Wallace.

NOTES 
- Keeble's double-double marked her 17th of the season, which ranks third on the Jaguar single-season record list.
- Wallace finished with a career-high six total blocks, with one solo and five block-assists, in addition to four kills.
- Maddux recorded eight kills, a .316 hitting percentage, three digs, four blocks and 10 1/2 total points.
- Bradford finished with eight kills, one dig and one block, and Capizzi recorded seven kills and a .467 hitting percentage on 15 total attempts, along with one dig and one block.
- Rachel Hickey finished with a team-high 17 digs and added one assist.
- The match marked the first-ever meeting between South Alabama and Georgia State in the SBC Championship.

QUOTES
Head Coach Jesse Ortiz
- Opening statement:
"We have a tremendous group. Our hats go off to Georgia State, they are a tremendous team. I really like Meisheia (Griffin); she is a great middle. I think (GSU head coach) Sally (Polhamus) does a tremendous job. I love that (coaching) staff. They are fighters and came at us tonight. Our ladies worked hard and established our rhythm and we ran with it. I'm really proud of my team. It's pretty awesome."

- On Saturday's semifinal with UTA:
"You just have to make sure you try to play the best game you can at this point in the year. UTA is a great team and they have been tearing up that side of the conference, especially as of late; they've been on fire. We're going to get to work on scouting up the last few games and then go give it our best – that's what we're trying to do every single day. We'll go give it our best tomorrow."

Setter Kailey Keeble
- On keys to the win:
"At the beginning, I think our nerves were pretty high. It was our first conference (tournament) game, and the first tournament for a lot of us since we're new here. Credit to Jesse (Ortiz); I think he did a really good job of calming us down in the locker room before the game. Once we calmed down and started playing it was really good."

UP NEXT
South Alabama will return to action Saturday when it faces UTA at 4 p.m. in the Sun Belt Conference Championship semifinal at Foley Sports Complex 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.