MOBILE, Ala. | Cambria Gaier and Maradith O'Gorman each recorded a match-high 14 kills as South Alabama secured the Sun Belt Conference series sweep Saturday afternoon with a 3-0 (32-30, 25-22, 25-23) victory at Jag Gym.

With the win, the Jaguars maintain their SBC West Division lead and improve to 12-7 overall and 7-1 in league play. 

Along with the Jag duo, Dalayla Blackwell also finished the match in double figures with 13 kills and a .360 hitting percentage, to go along with her match-high six blocks – one solo and five assists. O'Gorman also added a pair of block assists and recorded her ?? career double-double in the match, ending the day with 11 digs. Briana Wilson led all players with 18 digs of her own.

Anna Loberg was credited with 45 assists – which was tied for third-most in a three-set match in program history. Behind Loberg's distribution, South Alabama posted a season-best .297 hitting percentage as a team.

Southern Miss (13-6, 5-3 SBC) was paced offensively by Sadie McAda's 10 kills, while Aubrey Judd and Brynn Botkin also had nine kills apiece. 

Quotable – head coach Jesse Ortiz
- On the match: "We started off a little slow today, but we're a pretty confident team, especially in our gym. I loved the fact that our group just kept on coming at them in extra points."

- On not giving up a set this weekend: "It's big. We're trying to establish that we're one of the heavy-hitters in the Sun Belt Conference and these weekends are important, especially when you're going against one and two. I like how our players responded; I felt like they were really focused the entire match. 

- On the play of Dalayla Blackwell since she's returned to the lineup: "Dee is an absolute force and one of the fastest people I've ever met in my life. She's an incredible player, and she's been putting in a ton of hard word. I'm so proud of her. She's an absolute teammate, but she's also a warrior. It's awesome being able to coach players like her."

(RS) Sophomore middle hitter Dalayla Blackwell
- On the first set: "We weren't really nervous. We train for moments like that whenever it was going back and forth. We knew we just had to show up."

- On the key to the consistent play: "Just working hard in practice, trusting our teammates, and just going hard every, single ball no matter what the score is."

How It Happened 
Set 1 – South Alabama 32, Southern Miss 30
•    KEY MOMENT: With USM holding set point, the Golden Eagles looked as if they were going to take the opening frame on a block, but Wilson dug the ball and Loberg bumped it over the net after playing it off the net to keep the point alive, one that South eventually got on a solo block
•    Southern Miss led by as much as three early, but South battled back and tied the set back up (10-10) after a kill and an ace by Gaier, and then retook the lead on the next point following a kill by Blackwell
•    Holding a 16-15 lead, the Jaguars were able to stretch their advantage out to three after a kill by Gaier and an ace Strandberg
•    South led 22-21 after a kill by Loberg, but the Golden Eagles were able to push across the next four points and sit at set point (24-22) after a Botkin kill
•    Holding set point Southern Miss looked as if they were going to take the set with a block, but Wilson made a great save and Loberg was able to play the ball off the net and hit it over, where Eva Dittmar eventually ended the point with a solo block
•    Gaier tied the set back up at 24-24 on the next point with a kill to send the set into extra points
•    Later tied 30-30, after an Judd kill, South Alabama was able to pick up the final two points on kills by Gooch and O'Gorman, and take the first set (32-30)
•    Gaier and O'Gorman each have five kills for the Jaguars in the set, while Blackwell and Gooch had four apiece

Set 2 – South Alabama 25, Southern Miss 22
•    KEY MOMENT: Trailing by one coming out of a time out, Gaier slammed home a kill to ignite a 5-1 Jaguar run to close out the set
•    South Alabama was the first team to attempt to take control in the second set as the Jags pushed across three unanswered points to break a 13-13 tie
•    O'Gorman and Loberg teamed up for a block to begin the three-point spurt, and Loberg then recorded a kill
•    Coming out of the media time out, Gooch with an ace to extend South's lead to 16-13
•    South Alabama later led 20-16 after a kill by Gaier, her eighth of the match, but Southern Miss answered back with five-straight points and took a 21-20 lead after a Jaguar attack error
•    Following a Jaguar time out, Gaier tied the set back up with a kill, and Gooch then added two more kills on the next two points
•    Gaier and Blackwell then teamed up for a block to put the Jags at set point (24-21), and after USM fought off the next point, Blackwell sealed the 25-22, second-set win with her eighth kill
•    South Alabama posted its best offensive performance in the match in the third set, finishing with 20 kills on 42 attempts and just three attack errors for a .405 hitting percentage
•    O'Gorman added five more kills in the frame, and Blackwell and Gaier each had four as well

Set 3 – South Alabama 25, Southern Miss 23
•    KEY MOMENT: After the Golden Eagles tied the set back up (23-23), Gaier and Blackwell answered with back-to-back kills to clinch the win
•    South led 5-3 after a kill by O'Gorman, her 12th, but USM used a 9-2 run over the next 11 points to take its biggest lead of the match at 12-7
•    Judd led the charge during the run with three kills and McAda capped off the scoring and gave the visitors a five-point advantage with a kill of her own
•    Coming out of a time out, Blackwell ignited a 6-0 South run, with Gooch also adding a kill during the scoring
•    USM committed three attack errors – one of which coming on a block by Blackwell and Gaier – and Gaier later slammed home a kill to cap off the run and give the Jaguars a 13-12 advantage
•    South later took a four-point lead (23-19) after another kill by Gaier, but Southern Miss answered back with four unanswered points to tie the set back up after a kill by Botkin and three-straight Jaguar attack errors
•    On the ensuing point, Gaier hammered down her 14th kill of the match and Blackwell then followed with her 13th to clinch the set and the match
•    Both Blackwell and Gaier recorded five kills in the final frame

Post-Match Notes
•    The meeting marked the 59th in the all-time series, as South Alabama now leads 38-21, and 18-8 in Mobile
•    Since USM joined the Sun Belt Conference, South has won seven of the eight meetings, and since the 2012 season, the Jaguars have won 13 of the last 15 series meetings
•    Gaier and Gooch now each have 32 sets with four or more kills this fall
•    Gooch also now has 54 sets with four or more kills in her Jaguar career, including 17 of six or more
•    Gaier has reached double-figure kills in 13 of her last 15 matches (13 total), and led the club offensively in four-straight
•    Blackwell has had five or more kills in 13 of her 14 matches this fall, and has posted eight or more points in 11 of her 14 matches
•    O'Gorman has had seven or more digs in 14 of her 19 matches this fall, and has had multi-block matches in 12 of her last 15
•    Dating back to last season, Briana Wilson has posted 15 or more digs in 31 of her last 38 matches, and has had 13 or more digs in 18 of her 19 matches

Up Next
•    South Alabama will head to Lafayette, La., for a two-match series at Louisiana with first serve of the series opener versus the Ragin' Cajuns set for Friday at 6 p.m. at Earl K. Long Gym.

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