MOBILE, Ala. | Sarah Gooch recorded her third-straight double-digit kill match as South Alabama completed the 3-0 (25-22, 25-13, 25-18) sweep of ULM Saturday afternoon at Jag Gym to complete the weekend series sweep.

With the win, the Jaguars improve to 6-8 on the year and even their Sun Belt Conference record at 2-2. The Warhawks drop to 4-12 and 0-4 in the SBC.

Gooch was nearly perfect with her attack as she had 11 kills on 24 attacks and just one error for a .417 hitting percentage. 

Maradith O'Gorman just missed reaching double figures with nine kills, to go along with four block assists. Abryanna Cannon (.318) added seven kills and nine digs, while Lillie Simons also had seven kills and Dalayla Blackwell was credited with five and a team-high five total blocks – one solo, four assists.

Quotable – head coach Jesse Ortiz
- On controlling much of the match after the slow start in the first set: "I thought ULM came out pretty hard in the first set and they were getting after it. We were fortunate to pull that one out. I think we were able to get ahead of them with our serving and receiving."

- On Sarah Gooch's performance today and this weekend: "Her progression has been amazing since she arrived here. Sarah is such a smart individual and competitor. She's becoming more and more aware of her situations and efficiency. Watching her growth has been tremendous as a coach."

- On the series next weekend with Texas State: "Texas State looks like they are the team to beat right now, and I have no problem saying that. We know it's going to be a dog fight and we will be facing a pretty good team. Their coach does a good job with them. I like where we're at and what we're doing right now. I still feel that we are going to keep getting better as the season progresses. Next weekend will be a chance for us to gauge ourselves and see where we're at as a team. We want 'Ws' so we are going to be aggressive and see where the ball lies after that."

Sophomore Outside Hitter Sarah Gooch
- On her performance: "We were just in system a lot of the match today, credit to our passers. They were dishing out great balls."

- On bouncing back and evening the league record with the weekend sweep: "It was huge for us to get the sweep this weekend. We all believe in ourselves and the coaches believe in us. Just wanted to showcase that we could put a complete match together, and show people that we are serious and ready for the rest of the season."

How It Happened 
Set 1 – South Alabama 25, ULM 23
•    ULM took six of the first eight points of the match to grab a four-point lead, but South Alabama answered back with five unanswered points to take a 7-6 lead after a Gooch kill
•    With the Warhawks leading 10-8 after a kill by Taly Cloyd, the Jaguars answered back with a 7-0 run 
•    Gooch ignited the run with a kill – one of her two during the run and four in the set 
•    O'Gorman and Blackwell also had a kill and a block during the run, as the Jags led 15-10 at the media time out
•    South Alabama later led 21-17 after a kill by Addison Hurst, but ULM kept battling and tied the set back up at 22-22 after an ace by Emily Adams
•    With the set still tied two points later, the Warhawks served the ball long – their fourth service error of the opening set – and then Cannon recorded a kill to seal the 25-23 win
•    ULM's offense was led by nine kills from the duo of Cloyd (5) and Kali Walker (4)

Set 2 – South Alabama 25, ULM 13
•    South got off to the quick start in the second set, jumping out to a 7-3 lead
•    The early run was led by the duo of Cannon and Simons who had five kills during the first seven Jaguar points
•    Jaguars took command of the frame with a 9-0 run and grabbed their largest lead of the match at 16-4
•    Simons capped off the run with one of her two aces during the run, while Gooch also had a pair kills
•    South later grabbed a 13-point advantage after a Blackwell kill, which made it 20-7, before the Jaguars eventually took the set, 25-13 to go up 2-0 in the match
•    South Alabama recorded a .407 hitting percentage in the set with 11 kills on 27 attacks and no errors, while holding ULM to a .027 hitting percentage

Set 3 – South Alabama 25, ULM 18
•    Leading by one (6-5), South Alabama was able to gain some breathing room early on with five-straight points
•    Blackwell began the scoring spurt with a solo block and O'Gorman had a pair of kills
•    ULM narrowed the lead to 12-8, but once again, South answered back with four unanswered points, as Blackwell had a kill, then O'Gorman posted back-to-back put aways, and Cannon slammed home a kill of her own to extend the Jag lead to eight (16-8)
•    South later led by nine (21-10) after a kill by Gooch, but the Warhawks attempted to mount a late rally, narrowing the deficit to four (21-17) after a kill by Walker
•    ULM got no closer as the Jags closed out the match with four of the final five points and clinched the 25-18 win after another kill by O'Gorman
•    O'Gorman led the Jaguar offense in the final set as she posted seven of South's 18 kills – the second time this season that she has had seven kills in a single set

Post-Match Notes
•    The meeting marked the 29th in the all-time series, and South now holds a 22-7 series advantage
•    Since 2007, South has won 21 of the last 23 series meetings, including its current 11-match win streak
•    Of the last 23 matches, 13 have been decided in straight sets (all South wins)
•    Under Ortiz, South Alabama is 8-0 in SBC home opening series
•    Over the last three-plus seasons, South has posted a 39-13 mark in Sun Belt play and has won 23 of its 25 league home matches
•    The 11 kills marked the fifth match of 10 or more kills for Gooch this fall and her third-straight
•    O'Gorman (388) is 12 kills shy of 400 for her career
•    The seven kills by O'Gorman in the third set tied her own mark for the most in a single set this fall
•    Over her last seven matches, Simons has recorded 64 kills and 43 total blocks
•    The 17 digs marked Wilson's ninth match this season with 14 or more digs, and her 11th with 10 or more
•    With her five total blocks in the match, Blackwell has recorded three or more blocks five times this fall
•    The .306 hitting percentage was a new season-best for the Jaguars and the first match hitting .300 or better since .324 [44-9-108], vs. James Madison (11/9/23)

Up Next
•    South Alabama will continue its SBC home stand with a two-match series versus Texas State. First serve of the series opener is set for Friday at 6 p.m. at Jag Gym, with match two set for Saturday at 1 p.m.

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