BIRMINGHAM, Ala. | South Alabama's Abryanna Cannon recorded her second double-double of the season and was one of five players on the night to record six or more kills as the Jags defeated UAB, 3-1 (25-118, 18-25, 25-19, 25-15) Thursday night at the Alabama Showdown hosted by the Blazers at Bartow Arena.

South Alabama improved to 3-5 on the year, while UAB fell to 5-4 on the season.

Cannon led all players with 14 kills and 11 digs, while Sarah Gooch had nine kills. Maradith O'Gorman and Lillie Simons each had eight kills and five total blocks. Dalayla Blackwell also had six kills and four blocks in the win.

Junior setter Anna Loberg also recorded a double-double with 37 assists and 11 digs, to go along with four total blocks – one solo and three assists. Briana Wilson led all players in the match with 16 digs.

Jorda Crook and Mia Reese led the Blazers with 12 kills each.

Quotable – head coach Jesse Ortiz
- On the victory over UAB: "I still consider us a work-in-progress. I like a lot of things we're doing right now; I think we get stronger as we go. There're parts of our game that I feel we've gotten better at and that's a cool thing to watch. Watching their growth makes (coaching) fun, but it is also nerve-wracking at times. Kudos to the girls, they kept it together and stayed together. When we were challenged, I didn't feel like we had any real ebbs and flows. We just maintained what we were doing. (UAB) was able to get us one set, but for the most part, I thought we were in command, and I'm really proud of them."

- On Anna Loberg and her distribution of the offense: "It's Anna's leadership and her pushing the other players to be up, and demanding that they be ready. Watching how hard they play for her is nice. She's one of our great leaders, one of our captains. She's spreading the ball around and they girls are doing the most with it. We can't be a one antenna team; we're going to have to spread it around to be successful."

How It Happened 
Set 1 – South Alabama 25, UAB 18
•    South Alabama broke a 12-12 tie midway through the first set after a combined block by Dalayla Blackwell and Loberg, and then a kill by Gooch
•    South led 16-13 after a kill by Gooch but the Blazers cut the Jaguar advantage to one (17-16) after back-to-back kills by Mia Reese
•    USA responded with two quick points – a kill by Simons – and then a block by the middle hitter and O'Gorman to force a time out
•    Coming out of a UAB time out, South continued the run with two more points after a pair of attack errors gave the visitors the 21-16 advantage
•    The Blazers pushed across the next two points to force a Jaguar time out, but O'Gorman and Simons combined for another block and Cannon slammed home a kill to regain momentum 
•    South Alabama closed out the frame strong, picking up eight of the final 10 points with the last coming on another kill by Cannon
•    Simons and Cannon each had four kills apiece in the set as the Jaguars took the early match lead with the 25-18 win

Set 2 – UAB 25, South Alabama 19
•    The Jaguars led 5-3 early on in the second set after an ace by Simons, but over the next 10 points, UAB answered back with an 8-2 run
•    Chloe Rodriguez capped off the run and gave the Blazers the 11-7 lead with an ace of her own
•    South kept battling, cutting the deficit to one (14-13) after a kill by Cannon, but UAB the Blazers extended its lead back out to four over the next several points 
•    Gooch tried to help the Jags fight back, cutting the deficit to 19-17 with a kill, but the Blazers pushed across six of the final seven points 
•    Abby Jones evened the match and gave UAB the 25-19 win with a kill of her own
•    The Blazers posted a .345 hitting percentage in the frame

Set 3 – South Alabama 25, UAB 19
•    Tied 4-4 early on in the set, South was the first club to gain any ground pushing across three-straight points
•    UAB fought back and went on top (10-9) after back-to-back solo blocks by Madison Page and Reese, but two Blazer errors gave the Jags a one-point lead
•    Tied 14-14, Blackwell kill and Cannon block and maintained the lead over the next several points
•    Holding just a one-point lead (19-18), South Alabama closed out strong on a 6-1 run
•    Simons and O'Gorman teamed up for another block and Gooch then registered an ace to ignite the scoring  
•    South Alabama later regained the match lead with the 25-19 third-set victory

Set 4 – South Alabama 25, UAB 15
•    With South Alabama leading by one (4-3) early on in the fourth set, UAB grabbed control with a 6-1 run over the next seven points, taking a 9-5 lead after a Rodriguez ace
•    The Jaguars kept fighting and tied the set back up (10-10) after a kill by O'Gorman, and on the next point a Blazer ball-handling error and a kill by Gooch gave South the lead again
•    The two points ignited a pivotal 6-1 run for the Jaguars
•    A key play in the set came on the 24th point when Reese was originally credited with a kill, which would have tied the set up at 12-12, but upon video review, the ball was ruled out
•    O'Gorman slammed home her seventh kill of the match to put South up 16-11
•    From there, UAB had no answers and Cannon sealed the match and the 25-15 set victory with an ace
•    Like the opening set, South Alabama posted a .345 hitting percentage in the final set 

Post-Match Notes
•    The meeting marked the 41st in the all-time series, which dates back to the 1974 season 
•    The win marked the 18th in the series for the Jaguars and the ninth in Birmingham
•    South Alabama improved to 5-2 in the series in four-set matches
•    The meeting marks the first in Birmingham between the two clubs since the 1998 season
•    It was the first win for South on the Blazers' home floor since the 1988 season
•    Cannon (679) is 21 kills shy of reaching 700 for her collegiate career
•    The 14 kills by Cannon also marked the 17th time at South and the 33rd time in her collegiate career that she has recorded 10+ kills in a match
•    It was also the seventh double-double of her collegiate career
•    Simons (195) is now five total blocks shy of 200 for her career
•    The double-double was the first of Loberg's career
•    The 12.0 total blocks were a new season best for the Jaguars and marked the second-straight match in which they have finished in double figures in the category

Up Next
•    South Alabama will continue at the Alabama Showdown on Friday versus Samford with first serve set for 4 p.m.

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