MOBILE, Ala. | Abryanna Cannon recorded a season-high 19 kills and was one of five South Alabama players to record nine or more as the Jaguars won their third straight match and defeated previously unbeaten division leader Texas State, 3-1 (25-18, 24-26, 25-23, 25-19) Friday night at Jag Gym.

South Alabama improved to 7-8 overall and 3-2 in the Sun Belt with the win, while Texas State moved to 10-6 and 4-1 in the league with the loss. 

Cannon nearly recorded her fourth double-double of the season, finishing the match with nine digs and two block assists. Joining Cannon in double figures was Maradith O'Gorman who had 10 kills, two service aces and three block assists. Sarah Gooch and Lillie Simons just missed out on double digits with nine kills apiece, while freshman middle blocker Dalayla Blackwell had a career-best eight kills to go along with a pair of blocks.

Junior setter Anna Loberg posted her third double-double with 47 assists – also a new career high – and 14 digs. Addison Hurst tied a career high with 12 digs, while Briana Wilson had 13 digs and a career-high three service aces.

Simons led the club with eight total blocks – two solo and six block assists.

The Bobcats had three players end the night in double figures – MJ McCurdy (13), Samantha Wunsch (12) and Caelyn Emmerling (11). Texas State setter Ryann Torres was credited with 37 assists and a match-high 20 digs.

Quotable – head coach Jesse Ortiz
- On his thoughts on how his team played: "I thought Anna (Loberg) did a tremendous job distributing and spreading the ball around. We've been working hard this season and it's been with a new group. It's been part of our quest to have a more efficient game and be able to put it all together. We've been growing and we've seen the growth, even though it hasn't always resulted in wins. We knew we were capable of playing this type of match. We knew this match was going to be a dog-fight. When we're on and doing what we're supposed to be doing, we are a force."

- On what the difference was tonight in the match: "Number one was good passing and good serving. When you don't make that many errors, and we've been hemorrhaging errors this season, but when you play to be efficient and force your opponent to play clean volleyball, it's tough. We're a big and physical team, so it can be anybody's night, and tonight it was ours."

Junior Setter Anna Loberg
- On getting the win against a good team: "It was a huge win for us. We come into practice everyday and we want to work hard for each other. It's nice to see when that hard work shows and pays off. The job's not finished because we have Texas State again tomorrow. We need to come out the same way we did today, and come out even better and stronger tomorrow."

- On her distribution of the offense: "My job's really easy when the passers put me in the pocket, and I can trust any hitter to put it away. I give all the credit to my passers and hitters; they make my job very easy everyday."

Junior Right Side Hitter Maradith O'Gorman
- On what went well for the team tonight in the win: "It was about our execution, especially from our passers. It starts with a pass every single time. On the service line, it's about getting our aces when it matters. Abryanna (Cannon) and Sarah (Gooch) did a great job on the outside and made plays when it mattered."

- On how key it was to limit the errors: "Tonight should show how big of a difference errors can or cannot make in a match. We go into practice each day focusing on limiting our errors, and that shows when we're in big matches like tonight."

- On her performance: "It's very beneficial for our offense when we are producing from our passers. Anna was getting me the ball right where I needed it. With the energy our team gives us, it's very easy to produce for this team."

How It Happened 
Set 1 – South Alabama 25, Texas State 18
•    South Alabama was the first team to gain any breathing room early on in the opening set as the Jags strung together five-straight points to turn a one-point deficit into a 7-3 lead 
•    O'Gorman had a kill and an ace during the run, while Cannon had a kill and a Simons registered a solo block
•    South later extended its lead out to six (15-9) after a kill by O'Gorman and a Bobcat attack error
•    Texas State pushed across the next four points to narrow the Jag lead (15-13) the last two coming after back-to-back service aces from McCurdy
•    The Jags answered with a 4-0 run of their own, which was ignited by block assists from O'Gorman and Blackwell, and the capped off by two-straight aces from Wilson 
•    South Alabama picked up five of the last seven points and took the early match lead with the 25-18 win after Gooch's fourth kill of the set
•    The Jags held the Bobcats to a -.061 hitting percentage, forcing nine attack errors

Set 2 – Texas State 26, South Alabama 24
•    South maintained the momentum entering the second set, picking up the first three points, but Texas State battled back and tied the set back up (4-4)
•    Simons quickly helped the Jaguars reclaim the lead and began a four-point run with two-straight kills
•    The Bobcats tied the set back up (11-11) after kills by McCurdy and Jade Defraeye, but the Jags again came right back with four unanswered points and led 15-11 at the media time out after a kill by Simons
•    On the next point thought, McCurdy ignited a 7-1 run for Texas State over the next eight points as the Bobcats grabbed the lead at 18-16 
•    TXST 18-16
•    Coming out of a time out, South Alabama began to chip away at the deficit and tied the set back up (21-21) after an ace by Loberg and a Bobcat attack error
•    South Alabama held set point, 24-23 after a kill by Blackwell, but wasn't able to finish the set after committing a service error
•    The Bobcats evened the match two points later with the 26-24 win after kills by Defraeye and Wunsch

Set 3 – South Alabama 25, Texas State 23
•    Texas State held the early momentum leading by as much as four 
•    Trailing 11-7, Jags pushed across four-straight points to tie it back up at 11-11
•    Simons had a pair of blocks and a kill during the scoring spurt
•    After trading the next two points, South grabbed the lead for good after an ace and a kill by O'Gorman
•    The Jaguars later stretched their lead out to four (20-16), but Texas State pulled within two 
•    South looked to be in control of the set, extending its lead to 23-18 after a kill by Cannon, but the Bobcats clawed their way back over the next seven points and narrowed the deficit to one (24-23) after a kill by Wunsch
•    Texas State looked as if it had initially tied the set back up at 24-24, but upon video review, Cannon's attack was ruled to have touched a Bobcat, giving the Jaguars the 25-23 win
•    Cannon led the way with five kills in the set for the Jaguars

Set 4 – South Alabama 25, Texas State 19
•    In the fourth and final frame, it was Cannon who provided the offense for the Jaguars, recording nine kills in the set and hitting .750 as she didn't commit an attack error on any of her 12 attempts
•    Texas State led much of the first half of the set, but with the Jags trailing 10-9, South retook the lead with three-straight points, the last coming on another kill by Cannon to put the home team up 12-10
•    With the set later tied 17-17, the Jaguars closed out strong with eight of the final 10 points
•    O'Gorman began the scoring with three-straight kills and Cannon then posted kills on the Jags' final five points of the match
•    Cannon sealed the win with her 19th kill of the night to give South Alabama the 25-19 win

Post-Match Notes
•    The meeting marked the 21st in the all-time series 
•    South Alabama how holds a 5-4 series advantage at Jag Gym
•    The first-set win by South Alabama snapped Texas State's 12-set win streak 
•    In the Bobcat's first four SBC matches, they had dropped just two total sets
•    The 19 kills by Cannon were a new season high and two off matching her career high of 21 
•    Cannon has posted double-digit kill 10 times this fall and has led the club in kills on nine occasions, to go along with four double-doubles
•    Cannon has also had nine or more digs in six of her last eight matches
•    With her 10 kills, O'Gorman (398) is 2 kills shy of 400 for her career
•    O'Gorman has recorded eight or more kills in nine of her last 11 outings
•    Simons (293) sits just seven kills shy of 300 for her career, and she now has 200 career block assists at South Alabama 
•    Over her last seven matches, Simons has recorded 73 kills and 51 total blocks, recording eight or more kills in six of those matches
•    Gooch has had nine or more kills in seven of her last nine matches
•    Wilson (401) eclipsed the 400-dig mark for her career in the match
•    Wilson has recorded 13 or more digs in eight-straight 

Up Next
•    South Alabama will close out the series with Texas State on Saturday afternoon. First serve versus the Bobcats is set for 1 p.m. at Jag Gym.

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