BIRMINGHAM, Ala. | Abryanna Cannon posted a season-high 18 kills and recorded her second double-double of the season, but South Alabama fell 3-1 (25-20, 19-25, 19-25, 23-25) to Auburn Saturday afternoon at the Alabama Showdown hosted by UAB at Bartow Arena.

The loss snapped South Alabama's (4-6) three-match win streak, while Auburn improved to 10-1 on the year.

In addition to her 18 kills – the most by a Jag this fall – the Novi, Mich., native also finished with 14 digs and three total blocks – two solo and one assist. Maradith O'Gorman also finished in double digits offensively with 11 kills, seven digs and like Cannon, added three total blocks.

Sarah Gooch chipped in with nine kills and eight digs, while Lillie Simons had eight kills and a team-high four block assists. Anna Loberg posted her second double-double of the weekend with 42 assists and a career-high 19 digs.

As a team, South Alabama posted a season-high 99 digs, led by Briana Wilson's 23, which was one shy of matching her career and season highs.

Auburn had three players finish with 11 or more kills, led by Madison Scheer's 18. Bel Zimmerman (12) and Bella Bell (11) also finished in double figures. Lauren Dreves had 20 digs and Peyton Dunn had 19, while Chelsey McCurdy was credited with 10 block assists.

Quotable – head coach Jesse Ortiz
- On the match: "I felt like Auburn's serving was really good and they really put us on our heels in terms of serve-receive. It took us a little while to get gaged up to it. I thought we had a lot of tenacity and played with a lot of heart, which is what got us back in certain spots of the match. Auburn has a tremendous defense, and I thought we matched up pretty good on that, but I thought they had a solid serve and pass game."

- On the play of Abryanna Cannon: "Abryanna's a beast, and every game that I've watched her this season in this type of role with us, she's gotten better and better. She's a handful for anybody, regardless of the team that she's playing. You see her physicality, her ability to play at the top of the block, her ability to create, her incredible handle of the ball as she's able to turn balls off the block and spin them out of bounds, her ability to hit line-side. I think she's a tremendous volleyball player. Knowing her for as long as I have, it's amazing watching how far she's progressed and the type of player she's become. We get to see her put on a show all the time in our gym, and she did a lot for us today. It just wasn't quite enough."

How It Happened 
Set 1 – South Alabama 25, Auburn 20
•    Tied early on in the opening set, Auburn reeled off five unanswered points to gain some breathing room 
•    South battled back and trimmed the deficit to four (10-6) after kills by Evie Taylor and Cannon
•    Nearing the media time out, Lillie Simons pulled South within a point (14-13) with a kill of her own
•    The Jaguars kept hanging around and eventually took the lead (19-18) after three-straight kills by Gooch, Cannon and O'Gorman to force a time out by the Tigers
•    Coming out of the time out, O'Gorman captured two of the next three points for the Jags with a block and another kill (22-18)
•    The Tigers captured the next two points to pull within two, but South recorded the final three and picked up the 25-20 win after a solo block by Cannon
•    Cannon (5) and O'Gorman (4) combined for nine of South's 16 kills in the set

Set 2 – Auburn 25, South Alabama 19
•    Auburn grabbed the early momentum in set two, picking up eight of the first 10 points, recording six block assists over the stretch
•    South battled back and narrowed the deficit to 11-9 after back-to-back kills by Gooch
•    Leading by two, the Tigers pushed across five-straight points to extend their lead to 22-15 after a pair of kills by Scheer and two aces from Kalei Edson
•    The Jags tried to mount a late charge after a kill by Simons, an ace from Spankus and a Cannon block (23-19), but coming out of a time out, Auburn pushed across the final two points to take the set and even the match

Set 3 – Auburn 25, South Alabama 19
•    Leading by one (4-3), Auburn's Scheer sparked an 8-1 run as she posted back-to-back kills
•    Bell and McCurdy teamed up for a pair of block assists during the run and Scheer recorded five kills, the last giving the Tigers a 12-4 advantage
•    South Alabama began to chip away at the eight-point deficit and over the next nine points, trimmed the deficit to three (14-11), mainly behind the play of Simons who had a pair of kills and teamed up with O'Gorman for a pair of blocks
•    The Jags again narrowed the deficit to three (17-14) after a Tiger attack error, but Auburn stretched its lead back out and eventually took the set, 25-19 after a kill by Dreves
•    Scheer registered seven kills in the set to lead the Tigers, while O'Gorman (5) and Cannon (4) again combined for nine kills for South

Set 4 – Auburn 25, South Alabama 23
•    South trailed by two early on in the fourth set after a couple of kills by Bell, but Simons ignited a 5-1 spurt for the Jags with a block, a kill and an ace, which gave the Jags a 9-7 lead and forced a Tiger time out
•    Trailing 11-10, Auburn rattled off three-straight points to reclaim the lead, but the Jags answered right back with a 4-0 run of its own to retake the lead (15-13) after a kill by Gooch
•    South lead 16-14 after a kill by Loberg, but Auburn reeled off six straight points and took a 20-16 lead after an ace by Dreves
•    The Jags refused to go away though and battled back to tie the set back up at 21-21 after an attack error
•    Cannon also had three kills during the run for South Alabama, and then after the Tigers pushed their lead back out to two, the graduate senior again recorded consecutive kills to tie the set back up (23-23)
•    However, Scheer slammed home a kill and Fallan Lanham clinched the match with an ace
•    Both Scheer and Cannon had six kills in the set to lead their respective clubs offensively

Post-Match Notes
•    The meeting marked the 28th in the all-time series, but only fifth meeting for the in-state foes this century
•    With the win, the Tigers have won 10 of the last 11, and nine straight in the series
•    The double-double was the third of the season for Cannon and the eighth of her career
•    Cannon has led South in kills this fall in seven matches
•    The 18 kills were tied for the third-most in her career, and the 14 digs were the second-most 
•    With her 14 digs, Cannon eclipsed the 400-dig mark as she now has 401
•    O'Gorman has now recorded 10 or more kill tallies 14 times in her career
•    The double-double was Loberg's second of the weekend and the 19 digs eclipsed her previous best of 14 set last season against Stephen F. Austin
•    Loberg now has 303 digs at South Alabama
•    Simons entered the match one block shy of reaching 200 for her Jaguar career, reached the milestone with three in the third set and now has 203 for her career
•    Over her last three matches, Simons has recorded 32 kills
•    The 23 digs by Wilson marked her second 20-dig match this fall and was one shy of matching her career best (24) set at Southeastern Louisiana (9/10/24)
•    The 99 digs by South Alabama were a new four-set, single-match record and the most in a four-set match since recording 97 vs. Samford (9/9/06)

Up Next
•    South Alabama will begin Sun Belt Conference play with a pair of matches against in-state rival Troy on Thursday and Friday night. First serve of both matches is set for 6 p.m. at Trojan Arena. 

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