ATLANTA | South Alabama volleyball fought hard for much of the match Thursday night against 15th-ranked Georgia Tech at the Georgia Tech Classic, but the Yellow Jackets were able to pick up the 3-0 (25-21, 25-19, 25-12) victory at O'Keefe Gymnasium.

South Alabama (1-5) was led by Abryanna Cannon's 10 kills, and the outside hitter also added four digs and two blocks. Sarah Gooch and Dalayla Blackwell each had six kills apiece. Briana Wilson finished with 10 digs, and both Lillie Simons and Maradith O'Gorman had four block assists.

The Yellow Jackets improved to 6-1 on the year and were paced by the duo of Tamara Otene and Bianca Bertolino. Otene had a match-high 11 kills, four aces, seven digs and two blocks, while Bertolino finished with 10 kills, three aces and six digs. 

As a team, GT ended the match with 10 service aces compared to just two by the Jags.

Quotable – head coach Jesse Ortiz
- On the team battling and his thoughts on the match: "We've had a rough go of it early on this season, but I do feel that we are getting better and better. Our players just keep on fighting and the keep on working; you can tell that there's a drive for them to keep trying to get better. I was proud of our fight. I think we are starting to showcase some things and show that we have physicality.

"Georgia Tech is a tough team and one of the Top 15 teams in the country right now. They are a very strong team and they've been together for a while. I thought we did pretty well, but with that being said, we have to close things out. You have to be aggressive in those situations, but you also can't make so many errors. We have to do a better job, but I like the growth." 

How It Happened 
Set 1 – No. 15 Georgia Tech 25, South Alabama 21
•    Georgia Tech grabbed the first four points of the match and jumped out to a 6-1 lead after block assists by Otene and DeAndra Pierce
•    South was able to narrow the deficit to one (7-6) after kills by Blackwell, Erika Spankus and Cannon, and an ace by Addison Hurst during a Jaguar 5-0 run
•    The Jags later cut the Yellow Jacket lead to one (14-13) after a kill by Cannon and a block by the graduate senior and Simons
•    South tied the set up a few points later at 17-17 after a Cannon kill – her fourth of the opening set – and a Georgia Tech attack error
•    Tied 20-20, the Yellow Jackets pulled away late, grabbing five of the final six points
•    Cannon had a solid start for the Jags with five kills in the first frame

Set 2 – No. 15 Georgia Tech 25, South Alabama 19
•    Like the first set, the Yellow Jackets grabbed the first couple of points in the second stanza
•    Holding a two-point advantage (6-4), Georgia Tech gained some breathing room with four unanswered points to take a six-point lead after a pair of Jaguar attack errors
•    After GT had gone up by six (12-6), Simons slammed home back-to-back kills to cut the deficit to 12-9 
•    South Alabama hung around and eventually tied the set back up at 17-17 after another kill by Cannon, her seventh of the match
•    Georgia Tech regained momentum and pushed across the next six points, a run that was ignited when Otene turned back a South Alabama attack and Laura Fischer dropped in an ace
•    Otene later sealed the 25-19 win with an ace to put the Yellow Jackets up 2-0 in the match

Set 3 – No. 15 Georgia Tech 25, South Alabama 12
•    After a block by O'Gorman and Blackwell trimmed the Jag deficit to one (4-3), Georgia Tech pushed across 12 of the next 15 points and took a 16-6 lead after back-to-back aces by Bertolino – the eighth and ninth of the match for the Yellow Jackets
•    Otene also had two aces and a kill during the run
•    From there, Georgia Tech maintained control and eventually took the set and the match with the 25-12 third-set win
•    The Yellow Jackets posted their best offense set of the night in the final frame, hitting .458 and recording five of their 10 service aces
•    Betolino and Otene each had four kills in the third set

Post-Match Notes
•    The meeting marked the seventh in the all-time series
•    The two clubs have also faced each other three times in the last two seasons
•    Georgia Tech has now won six straight in the series
•    The match was the 100th at South Alabama for head coach Jesse Ortiz
•    With her 10 kills, Cannon has now led the club in the category in four of South's five matches
•    The double-digit kill tally was her fourth of the season, the 16th of her South Alabama career and the 32nd of her collegiate career
•    The 10 service aces by Georgia Tech were the most by an opponent this fall
•    The six kills by Blackwell were a new career best for the redshirt freshman

Up Next
•    South Alabama will continue play at the Georgia Tech Classic on Friday versus Alabama State when the Jaguars take on the Hornets at 11:30 a.m. (CT) at O'Keefe Gymnasium.

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