HARRISONBURG, Va. | After taking the first two sets, South Alabama looked as if it might cruise to victory, but after James Madison rallied back to even things up, the Jaguars were able to capture a thrilling five-set victory and extend the nine-match win streak with a 3-2 (25-23, 28-26, 13-25, 18-25, 15-9) Friday at the Convocation Center.

With the win, South Alabama (13-8, 9-2 SBC) maintained its lead in the Sun Belt Conference West Division and has now won 12 of the club's last 15 matches. 

Abryanna Cannon recorded her sixth-straight double-double with 18 kills and 12 digs. Cannon also had four total blocks – two solo and two assists. Sarah Gooch also finished in double figures with 13 kills of her own and three aces. Maradith O'Gorman and Dalayla Blackwell each chipped in with 11 kills, while Blackwell posted a .500 hitting percentage.

Along with Cannon, O'Gorman, Blackwell and Lillie Simons also had four total blocks, while the Jags held a 12.0-8.0 advantage in the category in the match.

Junior setter Anna Loberg just missed her sixth-straight double-double as she dished out 43 assists and had nine digs.

James Madison (10-11, 5-6 SBC) was led offensively by Bre Reid's 28 kills – one off matching her career high – and 13 digs, while Annie Smith had 17 kills of her own.

The Dukes recorded 11 service aces in the loss and were paced in the category by Julia McNeely and Madilyn O'Toole, who had four each. McNeely also posted a match-best 23 digs.

Quotable – head coach Jesse Ortiz
- On the match: "I just think these are the types of matches you are going to have against teams like the JMUs and the Texas States. You're not just going to blow these teams out because they have a lot of talent and great coaching staff. You never look forward to going five sets, but you look forward to your team hopefully relying on what you've instilled in them, what they've trained for and what they've been growing into and grinding at, and hopefully they are able to handle the situation and not make let it be any bigger than them. At one point in the match, I think they just looked at each other and said let's just get this done. As a coach when they did that, I was just going to get out of the way and let them go."

- On the late offense by Sarah Gooch and Dalayla Blackwell: "Sarah (Gooch) and Dalayla (Backwell) were great for us tonight. People will start trying to double Lillie (Simons) or Abryanna (Cannon) but we have a lot of physicality. I thought (Anna) Loberg did a great job of locating her one-on-ones. She really got Dee going, who had a tremendous match." 

- On what he expects in Saturday's series finale: "It's going to be a dogfight again. Bre Reid has shown that she is one of the best players in our conference. JMU has a pretty tenacious defense and there's a lot of pride in that program. They are used to a certain level of success, so it's going to be two good teams getting after each other, and may the best team win. I'm hoping that's the Jags." 

How It Happened 
Set 1 – South Alabama 25, James Madison 23
•    The opening set remained close with neither team able to garner more than a two-point advantage through the first half of the frame
•    South Alabama was the first to extend its lead out to more than two points as the visitors reeled off four-straight points to break a 16-16 tie
•    Blackwell and Gooch each had a kill during the run for the Jags
•    JMU kept chipping away and tied the set back up at 22-22 after a kill by Reid and an ace by O'Toole
•    Coming out of a time out, the Dukes committed two errors to put the Jags at set point
•    James Madison was able to fight off one set point, but Cannon and Simons teamed up for a block on the next to seal the 25-23 win for the Jags
•    Cannon led all players with seven kills in the set on 11 attacks for a .636 attack percentage
•    As a team, South hit .344 as a club
•    South Alabama was also successful in a pair of challenges, which proved key in the win

Set 2 – South Alabama 28, James Madison 26
•    Like the first set, set two was tight throughout with neither team able to pull away
•    The Jaguars led 17-16 after a JMU service error, but the Dukes rattled off four-straight points to take a 20-17 lead
•    Rebecca Watkins began the run with a kill and later teamed up with Savannah Cockrill for a block, and Smith gave James Madison the three-point lead with an ace
•    Coming out of a time two points later, it was the Jags who had the answer
•    O'Gorman slammed home a kill – one of her four in the set – and Gooch then narrowed the deficit to one (21-20) with an ace
•    After a JMU time out, Blackwell and O'Gorman tied the set back up (21-21) with a block, but the Dukes came right back with the next two points to retake the lead
•    South answered right back though as Cannon tied the set back up with her 12th kill
•    The graduate senior then put the Jags at set point (24-23) with another kill – her sixth of the frame
•    In extra points, South Alabama's defense sealed the 28-26 win as Loberg and Blackwell teamed up for a block
•    Cannon had another strong offensive set with six kills
•    Reid led the way with eight in the set for JMU

Set 3 – James Madison 25, South Alabama 13
•    James Madison jumped out quick, grabbing five of the first six points, three of which coming off service errors – two by O'Toole
•    JMU led 9-4, but South Alabama began to rally back after back-to-back kills by Blackwell and a put away by Gooch trimmed the deficit to 9-8
•    After trading the next two points, James Madison rattled off the next three points to stretch its lead back out to four (13-9)
•    Reid had a pair of kills and McNeely dropped in an ace – her second of the set and fourth by the Dukes
•    Cannon tried to lead the Jags back with a solo block and a kill, but holding a 13-11 advantage JMU erupted on an 11-1 run to sit at set point
•    The Duke run was keyed by Smith and Reid who combined for eight points during the run
•    Smith had four kills, while Reid had three kills and an ace
•    Smith (7) and Reid (6) provided most of the offense for James Madison in the third, combining for 13 of its 16 kills in the set
•    Of the 11 service aces in the match, five came in the third set for the Dukes
•    James Madison also posted a .467 hitting percentage in the set
•    The loss ended a streak of nine-straight sets won by the Jags

Set 4 – James Madison 25, South Alabama 18
•    JMU picked up five of the first six points and jumped out to an early 8-3 lead in the fourth set after Reid's 22nd kill of the match
•    The Dukes held control for the remainder of the set and led 23-14 after a kill by Reid
•    The Jags tried to rally late with three-straight points after a kill by Gooch, block assists by Blackwell and Cannon and a kill by the outside hitter
•    James Madison though took two of the final three points to even the match (2-2) with a 25-18 win in the fourth set
•    Reid and Smith each had five kills in the fourth set for the Dukes
•    JMU again hit over .400, registering a .419 percentage

Set 5 – South Alabama 15, James Madison 9
•    Led by Reid, the Dukes controlled the early portion of the fifth set grabbing a 4-1 lead with all four points coming on kills by the outside hitter
•    Trailing 5-2, South answered back with a 7-1 run to retake the lead (9-6)
•    The pivotal Jaguar run began with a pair of JMU attack errors, and Blackwell then slammed home her 10th kill of the match to tie things up at 6-6 
•    Gooch – who was key down the stretch for South Alabama – also had a pair of kills and a solo block during the run
•    JMU narrowed the Jaguar lead to 10-8, but that was as close as the Dukes got as South Alabama pushed across five of the final six points to close out the match
•    After a Duke service error, Loberg and O'Gorman teamed up for a block
•    Gooch the recorded back-to-back aces and after a JMU kill, Blackwell slammed home her 11th kill of the night to clinch the 15-9 win
•    After recording four kills on JMU's first four points, Reid was held without a kill over the final 19 points of the match
•    South Alabama had its best offensive hitting percentage in the final frame, recording a .368
•    Gooch had three kills and recorded two of her three service aces in the deciding set 

Post-Match Notes
•    The meeting marked the fifth in the all-time series and the third in Harrisonburg 
•    South Alabama now holds a 3-2 series advantage
•    The win by the Jags also marked the first in the series by the visiting team
•    With her third kill of the match in the first set, Cannon eclipsed the 500-kill mark for her South Alabama career
•    Cannon reached both the 500 kill and 500 dig mark in the match as she now has 515 kills and 510 digs at South
•    Cannon also has 860 total kills combined at Northwestern and South Alabama
•    Cannon has double-digit kill tallies in 16 of her 21 matches, including 11 of her last 12
•    Cannon has also had nine or more digs in 12 of her last 14 matches, including six-straight in double figures
•    With her nine digs, Loberg now has 351 for her Jaguar career
•    Brianna Wilson (504) reached the 500-dig mark for her career with her 15 digs in the match
•    Blackwell has had seven or more kills in six of her last seven matches and five or more kills in eight of her last 10
•    Blackwell has hit .333 or better in five of her last seven, including four matches of .467 or higher
•    In her last 10 matches (all starts), Blackwell has committed just 17 attack errors in her 139 offensive attacks
•    Gooch has recorded nine or more kills in 12 of her last 15 matches, including nine of her last 10, and eight in double figures over the 15-match stretch
•    O'Gorman has had three or more blocks in 10 of her last 12 matches, and totaled 41 total blocks over that stretch
•    With her 15 digs, Wilson has recorded 13 or more digs in 14-straight entering the series

Up Next
•    South Alabama will close out the series with James Madison on Saturday at 11 a.m. (CT).

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