GAINESVILLE, Fla. - South Alabama (22-9) fought Georgia Tech (23-6) through four sets Thursday night to a 3-1 final in the First Round of the NCAA Championship.
The Jaguars traded points with the Yellow Jackets early and worked through
Hannah Maddux's offense to stay competitive. Maddux sent home 10 of the Jags' 12 first set kills with the Georgia Tech defense finding no answer for her.
The second set saw Georgia Tech take the lead in the middle of the set, but the Jaguars answered quickly with a five point run consisting of three Maddux kills that tied the set at 19.
Evie Taylor's three kills in the set helped push the Jags over the edge with
Lillie Simons finalizing it in favor of South, 25-22.
Set three had a
Paige Lynn ace in the opening points to press the opponent, but the Jags soon lost pace. Despite a late pair of Taylor kills, the Yellow Jackets took the third set, 25-15.
South Alabama started off slow in the fourth, with a string of errors stinging the Jags. South was unable to find a groove and struggled to break up the Yellow Jacket streaks. Georgia Tech took the winning set 25-12.
Maddux led statistically, dropping her third 20-kill game in a row with 24.
Kailey Keeble recorded 34 assists and 12 digs, also getting up for three blocks.
Paige Lynn tallied 12 digs and the Jags' lone service ace, while
Lillie Simons led the team with four total blocks. Freshman
Addison Hurst also contributed 11 digs, three kills, and an assist.
NOTES
- Maddux's 24 kills is her second-highest of the season and the fourth time she's marked 20+ this year.
- Maddux's 66 attacks is the third most by a Jag in a four set match.
- Simons' four blocks marks the 13th time this season she's totaled four or more.
QUOTES
Head Coach Jesse Ortiz
Statement on the Match: "Really proud of my team, really proud of their tenacity and them going after it. All credit to Georgia Tech. The Yellow Jackets were great tonight. I think you look at situations that you put your team into and you look at the grind that we have to go through the season, how it weighs on a lot of people. Think of a Vince Lombardi quote, 'Quitters never win and winners never quit.' And I think that's important to say. I'm so proud of these girls and [
Hannah Maddux and
Kailey Keeble] as part of the people who led this group for the last three years. They've definitely grown the program and they've done a lot of the heavy lifting, and they've been a shining example for the rest of the team for what they should strive for, and what we want to be in the future. So, all the credit to these seniors, especially these two for carrying such a heavy load."
Hannah Maddux
On her time at South Alabama
"Coming to South my freshman year, we had a different coaching staff. It was a lot different. I honestly never thought that I was ever going to win a conference championship at South, and then when Jesse's group came in, we won our first conference championship and made it to the tournament for the first time and that was the peak of my life. That was just insane and making it to the tournament two times in my career at South is so special to me, just being here. Making it to the postseason is such an honor and especially coming from where we came from with this group coming in. It was just super special to be here. We're all so happy to be here and I'm just really proud of our group for how hard we've worked all season long. We never gave up. We never quit. It was just really special."
Kailey Keeble
On her time at South Alabama
"The first year after we played Miami we came in here, did the interviews and we were talking about Jesse's first year and a whole new group of girls. Something that was really important to us was building a winning culture. And we said that we would be back here and... you're here. It's just really awesome. Like [
Hannah Maddux] said, I'm so proud of every single person on our team from the freshmen to the fifth years. We've had a lot of adversity this year. And I wouldn't change anything, honestly."
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