CONWAY, S.C. | Cambria Gaier led South Alabama offensively for the 18th time this fall with 16 kills Friday night, but Coastal Carolina took the series opener, 3-0 (25-20, 25-20, 25-20) at the HTC Center.

Coastal Carolina (16-10, 9-6 SBC) was led by Jalyn Stout who recorded a triple-double with 14 kills, 15 assists and 12 digs, while posting a .591 attack percentage. Emma Van Elslande just missed double figures for the Chants as she had nine kills and hit .444 in the match. 

As a team, CCU finished the night with a .400 hitting percentage, committing just seven attack errors. The .400 hitting percentage marked the highest by a Jaguar opponent this fall. 

South Alabama (14-12, 9-6 SBC), who ranked third in the SBC in blocks coming into the match, recorded a season-low one block in the loss, while Coastal was credited with eight.

Quotable – head coach Jesse Ortiz
- On the match: "Coastal came out strong on its home floor; they definitely were the aggressor tonight. I felt we played hard, but we definitely have to get after it more and take a few more chances against a team like Coastal. We had some good play tonight, but not enough for the 'W. I'm looking forward to seeing how we rebound and respond tomorrow."

How It Happened 
Set 1 – Coastal Carolina 25, South Alabama 20
•    KEY MOMENT: Coastal Carolina used a run of six unanswered points midway through the opening set to take the lead for good and break a 17-17 tie 
•    Tied 8-8, Alexa Strandberg began a 4-1, Jaguar run with a kill and South later took a three-point lead (12-9) after a CCU attack error
•    Stout tied the set back up three points later after back-to-back kills, and two points later, she gave CCU the lead with another kill
•    The CCU duo of Fowler (a kill and two block assists) and Stout (four kills) combined for seven of the Chant eight points over a stretch during the midway point of the set
•    Later with the set tied 17-17, Fowler and Anzley Rinard teamed up on a block to begin a 6-0 run for the Chanticleers
•    South Alabama cut the deficit in half (23-20) after kills by Maradith O'Gorman, Gaier and Strandberg, but coming out of a time out, Coastal picked up the final two points
•    Rinard recorded a kill to put the home team at set-point, and Anna Rita then had a solo block to seal the 25-20 win
•    Coastal came out hot offensively in the set, posting a .443 hitting percentage
•    Stout and Gaier recorded five kills, respectively, to lead their clubs in the first set

Set 2 – Coastal Carolina 25, South Alabama 20
•    KEY MOMENT: Coastal grabbed control of the second set and broke a 10-10 tie as it grabbed 10 of the next 13 points
•    Trailing 6-3 early, Gaier recorded five of South's next six points with the last tying the set up at 9-9
•    After trading points, CCU reeled off three-straight points to retake the lead, and Bailee Earnhardt later gave the Chanticleers a 16-11 lead after back-to-back aces
•    Emma Van Elslande had three kills during a 10-3 run by the Chanticleers and extended the lead out to seven (20-13) 
•    Trailing by six (22-16), Eva Dittmar slammed home a pair of kills and South pulled with in three on the next point after an attack error by Coastal
•    Coming out of a time out thought, Rita posted a kill to put the Chants at set point and on the next point, she and Van Elslande teamed up for a block to give Coastal the 25-20 set win
•    CCU had 15 kills on 29 attacks, and committed just one attack error for a .483 percentage, its best of any set in the match

Set 3 – Coastal Carolina 25, South Alabama 20
•    KEY MOMENT: Coastal Carolina used a 5-0 run early in the final set to take control and then didn't allow the Jaguars to get any closer than three down the stretch
•    Coastal used another run of unanswered points early in the third set, this one a 5-0 run forcing a South Alabama time out
•    Stout began the run with a kill and Fowler followed with two more kills of her own, before the duo combined for two-straight blocks to give the Chanticleers a 7-2 lead
•    South Alabama cut the deficit to four (12-8) after an ace by Addison Hurst – making her first start of the season
•    The Chanticleers later stretched their lead back out to 21-13 after a kill by Fowler
•    The Jags answered back with five-straight points and pulled within three (21-18) after a kill by Dittmar
•    Coastal recorded a match-high 17 kills in the third set and posted a .389 hitting percentage
•    For the third time in the match, Gaier led South with five kills in the third set

Post-Match Notes
•    The meeting marked the 23rd in the all-time series and the ninth in Conway
•    Gaier now leads the club with 48 sets of four or more kills, including 11 with six or more, and has done so in 34 of her 53 Sun Belt Conference sets played
•    Gaier has recorded 12 or more kills in 19 of her last 24, and recorded double figures 20 times
•    With her 30 assists, Anna Loberg (1,937) passed Emily Hundt (1,921, 2011-15) to move into seventh place all-time at South Alabama
•    Briana Wilson (1,097) is one dig shy of tying Kailey Keeble (1,098, 2021-23) for ninth place in the category
•    Maradith O'Gorman has had seven or more digs in 19 of her 26 matches this fall

Up Next
•    South Alabama will close out the series on Saturday against Coastal Carolina with first serve set for 1 p.m. (CT).

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