HATTIESBURG, Miss. | Sarah Gooch tied a career high with 17 kills to lead the way as South Alabama picked up a 3-1 (25-18, 25-23, 24-26, 25-22) victory over Southern Miss Thursday night in the Sun Belt Conference series opener at the Southern Miss Wellness Center.

With the win, the Jaguars (9-8, 5-2 SBC) improved their season-best win streak to five, while also now having won eight of their last 11. South Alabama also moves into sole possession of second place in the SBC West Division, just a half match behind division leader Arkansas State heading into Friday's schedule. 

Gooch was one of four players in double figures offensively for the Jags. Abryanna Cannon had 15 kills and tied a career-high with 19 digs for her sixth double-double of the fall, while Maradith O'Gorman (11) and Lillie Simons (10) also ended the match in double digits. O'Gorman also posted a .348 hitting percentage, six digs and three block assists. Simons recorded her 10 kills on 17 attacks and committed just one error for a .529 percentage, while also leading the club with a career-high three aces and five blocks.

Dalayla Blackwell just missed out on double-figures offensively with nine kills – which matched a career high for the redshirt freshman – and led the team with six block assists. 

Junior setter Anna Loberg was outstanding directing the offense as she posted a career-best 52 assists and finished with 16 digs for her fourth double-double of the season. Loberg also had three kills and four block assists.

Along with Loberg and Cannon, Briana Wilson and Addison Hurst ended the night in double digits defensively. Wilson set a new career high with 26 digs, while Hurst was just two digs shy of matching her career mark with 10.

Southern Miss (8-11, 4-3 SBC) was led by Aysu Dalogullari who had a match-high 18 kills and 13 digs while hitting .302 in loss. Sadie McAda also registered a double-double for the Golden Eagles (14 kills, 19 digs), while Torrey Tkach had 10 kills and seven block assists.

Quotable – head coach Jesse Ortiz
- On his thoughts on the match: "I thought Southern Miss was extremely scrappy. We felt like we did a pretty good job of establishing a driven-ball offense. Southern Miss did a great job of getting hits and staying alive in their transition offense and defense. I thought we passed well and served well. I feel that we were a little high error early on in some of the sets, but when we were able to be efficient and go on some runs, we were able to separate ourselves. I loved the fact in set three, that even though we lost it, we came back and tied it around the 20s, that was a goal of ours at our first time out. There was a lot of good stuff in the match. I love the fact that I'm seeing more consistency and we need to keep on doing that as the season progresses, but especially on Friday."

- On the outstanding performances by several players both offensively and defensively: "Defensively, we were doing a really good job of holding their offense at a low percentage through the first two sets, and then they started getting in more of a rhythm. I love the fact that we were able to hit some strong ball in and it was great watching us be able to go pin-to-pin in the offense. We keep trying to spread it around and find the hot hand. I feel Anna (Loberg) is doing a phenomenal job of getting her one-on-ones and locating the best attacker for that route."

How It Happened 
Set 1 – South Alabama 25, Southern Miss 18
•    South Alabama got off to a quick start in the match opening things up with seven unanswered points
•    Blackwell led the early scoring charge for the Jags as the middle hitter had a pair of kills and a pair of block assists
•    After an ace by Erika Spankus put South out in front 7-0, Southern Miss answered back with six-straight points of its own, three coming of block assists by Frankie Panunzio and Torrey
•    USM later tied the set back up at 11-11 after back-to-back kills by Izzy Kronenberg
•    Gooch quickly put the Jaguars back out in front with a kill and O'Gorman followed with a kill of her own and then teamed up with Blackwell for a block assists to give South a 14-11 lead
•    USM pulled within one (14-13), but the Jags came right back with five of the next six points to stretch the lead back out
•    O'Gorman had two more kills during the scoring spurt, while Blackwell also had a kill, Cannon had a solo block and Wilson dropped in an ace to force a Golden Eagle time out and give South the five-point advantage, 19-14
•    South Alabama later closed out the set with six of the final eight points, sealing the 25-18 after a kill by Lillie Simons
•    O'Gorman led the club with four kills, while Blackwell, Gooch and Simons all had three apiece
•    Wilson was outstanding with 10 digs for the Jags in the frame, as the club held Southern Miss to a .020 hitting percentage

Set 2 – South Alabama 25, Southern Miss 23
•    Southern Miss led by three (11-8) after back-to-back kills by Dalogullari
•    Jags picked up the next two points after kills by Blackwell and Cannon, but USM quickly stretched its advantage back out to three
•    Trailing by three (17-14) later in the set, South Alabama rallied back and tied the set back up after a kill by Gooch, an ace by Simons and then a block by Anna Loberg and Blackwell
•    Coming out of a Golden Eagle time out, Loberg and Blackwell teamed up for another block to put South back out in front (18-17)
•    Tied at 19-19 three points later in the set, pushed its lead out to two (21-19) after a kill by O'Gorman and a USM attack error
•    Southern Miss answered right back 
•    Kronenberg posted a kill and the Golden Eagles then recorded back-to-back blocks
•    Coming out of a time out, Cannon posted a kill for the ninth tie (22-22), and on the next point Simons and O'Gorman combined on the block
•    Holding set point (24-23), it was Cannon who again provided the offense with her eighth kill of the match and the 799th of her career
•    Cannon led the Jags with six kills in the set, while Dalogullari had seven

Set 3 – Southern Miss 26, South Alabama 24
•    Holding a one-point lead (5-4), Southern Miss opened up some breathing room in the third set with a 8-3 run
•    McAda and Dalogullari had a pair two kills each during the run, while the latter dropped in an ace to give USM a 13-7 advantage
•    After the two clubs exchanged the next two points, South Alabama captured eight of the next 10 points
•    Cannon ignited the 8-2 Jaguar run with a kill, and later added another, while Gooch and Simons also had two kills apiece during the stretch
•    Gooch tied the set back up (15-15) and capped off the run with her eighth kill of the match
•    Three points later, South took its first lead of the set, 17-16, after a Golden Eagle attack error
•    South led 19-17 after kills by O'Gorman and Blackwell, but coming out of a time out, USM tied the set back up after back-to-back kills by Dalogullari
•    South Alabama held match point (24-23) after a kill by Cannon and an ace from the graduate senior, but Southern Miss was able to capture the set with the final three points after a service error and kills by Dalogullari and Tkach
•    Dalogullari (6) and McAda (5) combined for 11 of the Golden Eagles' 19 kills in the set, as USM hit .306 in the frame
•    South Alabama committed just three errors and finished the set with a .326 hitting percentage

Set 4 – South Alabama 25, Southern Miss 22
•    Southern Miss led early on in the fourth set (5-3), but Simons and Gooch sparked a 5-0 Jaguar run 
•    Simons had a kill and a pair of aces, while Gooch added a pair of kills during the scoring spurt
•    The Golden Eagles tied the set back up (9-9) after a kill by Tkach and block assists by Madison Baldridge and Panunzio
•    Southern Miss later reclaimed the lead (13-12) after an ace by Dalogullari and the Golden Eagles then recorded their 12th block of the match on the next point 
•    Trailing by two (14-12), South Alabama pushed across five-straight points
•    Cannon began the run with a kill and then after a Golden Eagle attack error, Loberg dumped in a kill to put South back out in front
•    The Golden Eagles narrowed the deficit to 17-16 after block assists by Kronenberg and Tkach, but South Alabama didn't allow them to get any closer as the Jags captured the next six points
•    Cannon began the run and had an ace, while Gooch also had three kills during the run, the last of which put the Jaguars up 23-16
•    USM attempted to mount a rally with six of the next seven points, cutting the Jag lead to 24-22 after a kill by Dalogullari 
•    Gooch clinched the match though on the ensuing point with her 17th kill of the match, tying a career high and giving South the 25-22 fourth-set win
•    Gooch provided much of the offense in the frame as she had eight of South's 16 kills

Post-Match Notes
•    The meeting marked the 56th in the all-time series, and the Jaguars now hold a 35-21 series advantage in those meetings 
•    Since USM joined the Sun Belt Conference, South has won four of the five meetings, and nine of the last 11 sets against the Golden Eagles
•    Since the 2012 season the Jaguars have also won 10 of the last 12 series meetings
•    Cannon recorded her 800th career kill with her first kill of the third set
•    With her four total blocks, Cannon (199) is one total block shy of 200 for her career
•    Cannon has double-digit kill tallies in 12 of her 17 matches, including seven of her last eight
•    Cannon has also had nine or more digs in eight of her last 10 matches
•    Over her last eight matches, Simons has recorded 86 kills and 64 total blocks, recording eight or more kills in seven of those matches
•    Simons (306) also passed the 300 career kill mark in the match
•    Wilson has recorded 13 or more digs in 10-straight matches
•    The 26 digs were not only a career high for Wilson, but also her third match of 20 or more this season
•    The total was also one dig shy of tying for fourth most in a four-set match, and were the most in a four-setter since Abby Baker's 40 vs. Louisiana (11/3/17)
•    The 93 digs by South Alabama were also one shy of moving into the program's Top 10 
•    Blackwell has had five or more kills in five of her last six 
•    Blackwell has had four matches with five blocks or more over her last six
•    Gooch has recorded nine or more kills in nine of her last 11 matches, including each of her last six, and five in double figures over the 11-match stretch
•    Hurst has had nine or more digs in each of her last three matches, totaling 31 off the bench over that stretch
•    O'Gorman has recorded eight or more kills in 10 of her last 11 outings
•    O'Gorman has had three or more blocks in seven of her last eight matches, including six straight, and totaled 27 total blocks over that stretch
•    With her 10 digs, Hurst (20) eclipsed the 200-dig mark for her career
•    Loberg (308) passed the 300-dig for her career with her 16 digs
•    With her career-best 52 assists, Loberg has had 40-plus assists in three straight matches 
•    The match marked the first time South has had three players with 15 or more digs since Paige Lynn (27), Kailey Keeble (20), Anna Loberg (19), vs. James Madison (11/10/23)
•    It was the second time this fall that the Jags have had four players with 10 or more in a match: Wilson (23), Loberg (19), Cannon (14), Spankus (13), vs. Auburn (9/21/24)
•    The four players with 10 or more kills marked the first time since Hannah Maddux (18), Niki Capizzi (14), Cannon (13), Maddie Soboleski (13), at Louisiana (10/13/23)

Up Next
•    South Alabama will continue the series with the Golden Eagles on Friday night with first serve set for 6 p.m. at the Southern Miss Wellness Center.

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