Box Score (PDF)

HATTIESBURG, Miss. – South Alabama volleyball opened Sun Belt Conference play with a four-set win over Southern Miss Friday night at the USM Wellness Center.

USA (7-6, 1-0 SBC) extended its win streak to four matches with the victory, extended its SBC win streak to 11 games dating back to last season, and extended its win streak against Southern Miss to six matches. Outside hitter Hannah Maddux finished with a season-high 25 kills and .286 hitting percentage to pace the Jaguar attack, while middle blocker Morgan Stalcup recorded a season-high eight total blocks to tie her career high.

UP NEXT
South Alabama will return to action Saturday when it closes the weekend against Southern Miss at 2 p.m. in Hattiesburg, Miss. 

Set 1
- Southern Miss opened up the match with a 4-2 lead before a 5-1 Jaguar scoring run, which featured a pair of kills by Carissa Bradford, gave South Alabama a 7-5 advantage.
- A service error by Maddux cut the USA lead to 13-12, but a 3-0 run, highlighted by a service ace from Rachel Hickey, pushed the Jaguar lead to 16-12.
- South Alabama then used consecutive kills by Niki Capizzi and Bradford, along with a Golden Eagle ball-handling error, to build a 19-14 lead.
- The Jags earned set point at 24-20 on a kill by Lilly Simons, and clinched the set 25-21 on a kill by Bradford for a 1-0 lead.

Set 2
- A kill by Maddux broke a 12-12 tie to give the Jaguars a 13-12 lead, but USM answered with a 7-1 run to take a 19-14 lead.
- The Golden Eagles earned set point at 24-18 on a kill by Cailin Demps before a 3-0 Jag run that included kills by Simons and Maddux cut the USM lead to 24-21. 
- Southern Miss clinched the set 25-21 on a kill by Demps to even the match at one set apiece.

Set 3
- USA jumped out to a 6-1 lead with kills from Simons, Maddux and Stalcup, a block-assist by Maddux and Stalcup, and two Golden Eagle attack errors.
- A kill by Capizzi doubled the Jag lead at 12-6.
- USM went on a 4-0 run to cut the USA advantage to 13-12, but the Jaguars responded with a 3-0 run that featured a service ace by Kailey Keeble and block-assist from Simons and Stalcup to take a 16-12 lead.
- A 3-0 Southern Miss run cut the USA lead to 20-19, before a 4-1 Jag run, highlighted by a pair of kills from Maddux, led to set point at 24-20.
- South Alabama clinched the set 25-21 on a kill by Stalcup to take a 2-1 lead in the match.

Set 4
- The Golden Eagles tied the score 4-4 on a kill by Demps, but the Jags answered with a 4-0 run, which featured a block-assist by Stalcup and Simons and a kill by Stalcup, to double their lead at 8-4.
- An attack error by Capizzi tied the score 10-10 before a 6-1 Jaguar run, highlighted by a pair of kills from Maddux and solo block by Stalcup, pushed the USA lead to 16-11.
- A kill and solo block by Capizzi extended the Jaguar lead to 23-18, but USM responded with a 4-0 run to tie the score 23-23.
- USA earned match point at 24-23 on a kill by Maddux, but the Golden Eagles answered with a kill by Mia Wesley followed by a Jaguar attack error to earn set point at 25-24.
- A kill by Maddux tied the score 25-25 before a kill by Demps gave Southern Miss set point at 26-25.
- South Alabama closed the match with a 3-0 run with a kill by Maddux to tie the score 26-26, earned match point at 27-26 on an attack error by Wesley and clinched the set 28-26 on a block-assist from Bradford and Stalcup for a 3-1 win.

NOTES
- USA finished with 12 total team blocks, led by Stalcup's eight.
- Maddux posted a season-high 25 kills, .286 hitting percentage, three digs and four blocks.
- Bradford added 11 kills, .250 hitting percentage, three digs and three blocks.
- Libero Rachel Hickey recorded a game-high 17 digs, and also added three assists.
- Paige Lynn finished with 12 digs, marking her second straight contest with 10 or more digs, along with two assists.
- Keeble recorded her 10th double-double of the season with 49 assists and 11 digs, while also adding three kills and one service ace. It marked her 29th career double-double at South Alabama, which ranks third all-time.
- South Alabama improved to 2-0 in Sun Belt Conference openers under head coach Jesse Ortiz.
- The Jags extended their SBC regular-season win streak to 11 matches, dating back to Oct. 15, 2021, against Georgia State.

QUOTES
Head Coach Jesse Ortiz
- On the win:
"Southern Miss was great. They have a couple of players who are definitely great additions to the Sun Belt (Conference). But we're excited about the win, especially on the road. You always have to like those. I thought we played pretty well and were in command for most of the match. That's a formidable team with a lot of arm speed down the net, and we really had to play our A-game to beat those guys."

- On tomorrow's match:
"One of the things we have to do is we'll see what they did against us, and we'll see about making some adjustments. That's part of the season that we have right now. These back-to-back matches allow for a little bit more of the chess match. We'll look at some of the areas we could probably clean up – back row attack and some blocking that they were trying to do to us in terms of their attack – and we'll make some adjustments and see how they roll with that."

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