NEW ORLEANS | After helping South Alabama to a conference series sweep over Southern Miss, Anna Loberg was named the Sun Belt Conference Setter of the Week, while Briana Wilson was selected as the Defensive Player of the Week as announced by the league on Tuesday.

The selections mark the 38th and 39th SBC Weekly Award selections in program history. Since his arrival in 2021, South Alabama has received 14 selections as either the Offensive, Defensive or Setter of the Week.

The weekly accolade for Loberg marks the third time in her career that the redshirt senior has been named the top setter in the league, and the eighth time a setter has done so in program history. Loberg was named the league's setter of the week twice during the 2024 season (Oct. 22 and Oct. 29). Loberg's three career selections trail only former Jag Kailey Keeble, who had four during her time in Mobile.

Against Southern Miss, South Alabama switched back to a 5-1 offense and Loberg once again showed why she was named the league's preseason setter of the year. She dished out 81 assists in her six sets of action and averaged 13.50 assists per set as the Jaguars picked up a pair of 3-0 victories in their series sweep of Southern Miss. Loberg also had a pair of aces and averaged 3.00 digs per set, while also chipping in with six kills and five block assists.

On Friday in the series opener with Southern Miss, Loberg posted her 13th career double-double with 36 assists and 10 digs, and additionally recorded a pair of aces, two kills and three block assists. She also eclipsed the 1,600 assists mark for her career in the match. Loberg spread the ball around in the sweep as four players had eight or more kills.

The Geneva, Ill., native posted 16 assists – the most in a set this season for the Jags – in the opening set as South Alabama hit .359.

In Saturday's series finale, Loberg was credited with 45 assists – which tied for third-most in a three-set match in program history – and behind her distribution, South Alabama posted a season-best .297 hitting percentage as a team. Loberg nearly recorded another double-double as she finished with eight digs, and also had four kills and an ace. Three players had 13 or more kills and a four chipped in with eight.

The senior setter again had a big set to begin the match, registering 15 assists as South took the opening frame, 32-30. Her biggest play in the set actually didn't come on an assist, but a play off the net. With USM holding set point (24-22), the Golden Eagles looked as if they were going to take the set with a block, but Jag libero Briana Wilson kept the play alive when she laid out for a dig close to the net. The ball then went off the net and Loberg was able to play it off the net and hit it over, which South Alabama later took the point on a block of its own.

In the second set, Loberg directed the Jaguar offense to 20 kills and a .405 hitting percentage. She matched her season-high 16 assists in the frame. In the final set, Loberg dished out 14 more assists as South had 17 more kills.

Her 8.94 assists per set against league foes is second-most among setters and South's .280 hitting percentage leads the Sun Belt, while the Jaguars are also second in kills (14.29) per set.

The league honor marks the first of Wilson's career, and the second time this fall a South player has earned the defensive award, as middle hitter Alexa Strandberg also received the honor during the second week of the season. It is also the 11th time that a Jaguar has earned the defensive award in program history. 

Wilson was outstanding in the defensive back court in the series against Southern Miss, as South Alabama took sole possession of first place in the Sun Belt Conference's West Division with a sweep of the Golden Eagles. In the series, Wilson recorded 42 digs and averaged 7.00 digs per set.

Wilson recorded four or more digs in all six sets of the series, including three of nine or more, and the senior libero currently has 48 sets of four or more digs in a set, including 24 of six or more this fall.

Wilson opened the series with 24 digs, the fourth-most in a three-set match in program history. It also marked her sixth 20-dig match of the season and the 15th of her career. The Alabaster, Ala., native was stellar in the second and third sets as she recorded 10 digs in each set. With her defensive effort, she helped the Jaguar defense hold Southern Miss below .100 hitting percentages in each of the final two sets and a .129 percentage for the match.

On Saturday, Wilson led all players with 18 digs and her biggest dig came late in the first set. Southern Miss held set point and looked as if it were going to take the early match lead on a block, but Wilson made a diving dig – one of her nine in the set – close to the net to keep the ball alive, and after the Jags were able to play the ball over the net, South later took the point on a block. South Alabama eventually fought back and took the opening frame in extra points, 32-30.

Wilson ranks third in the SBC in digs with 4.54 per set, and in conference play, she has been even better, raising that average to 4.71 per set, which is second-most in league play. Entering next weekend's series at Louisiana, Wilson is 18 digs shy of reaching 1,000 for her career, and is less than 100 career digs from moving into the Top 10 at South Alabama in the category.

Up Next
•    South Alabama (12-7, 7-1 SBC) currently leads the SBC West Division and will head back out on the road for a two-match, conference road series at Louisiana this weekend. First serve of the series opener versus the Ragin' Cajuns set for Friday at 6 p.m. at Earl K. Long Gym., while the finale is scheduled for Saturday at 1 p.m.

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