CONWAY, S.C. | South Alabama led 2-1 in the match, but Coastal Carolina rallied back to win 3-2 (25-19, 26-28, 13-25, 25-11, 15-9) Saturday afternoon at the HTC Center in both team's regular-season finale.

South Alabama (14-13, 9-7 SBC) will now head into the postseason when it competes at the Sun Belt Conference Championships next week. The Jaguars will be the second seed in the West and open up tournament play against Georgia Southern, the third seed in the East, in the quarterfinal round on Friday night.

Cambria Gaier led the Jaguars with a career-high 27 kills, while also recording a career-best 14 digs for her second-straight career double-double in the loss. Gaier also finished with a pair of aces and three block assists.

Dalayla Blackwell, Maradith O'Gorman and Alexa Strandberg all had six block assists for the Jaguars in the loss. Briana Wilson led South with 15 digs to move her into ninth-place all-time at South Alabama in career digs.

Coastal Carolina (18-10, 10-6) had four players finish the match in double figures. Ansley Rinard  recorded 16 kills, while Emma Van Elslande had 15. Jalyn Stout recorded her second triple-double of the series with 12 kills, 22 assists and 14 digs, while Emily Fowler had 11. Anna Rita led the Chanticleers defensively with eight total blocks – four solo and four assists.

Quotable – head coach Jesse Ortiz
- On the match: "I thought we came out pretty strong today. We worked hard to get that first set, but it kind of got away from us. After last night, it was a chance for us to respond and I appreciate the way our players came out and got it dialed in in the second set. With us up, 2-1 in the match, I thought we had a great opportunity to win on their Senior Night. It was a dogfight throughout the match. I wish we could have done better at the end of the match, but I'm proud of my group, and we're looking forward to the Sun Belt tournament."

How It Happened
Set 1 – Coastal Carolina 25, South Alabama 19
• KEY MOMENT: South Alabama pulled within one late, but Van Elslande slammed home a kill to prevent anything further by the Jags
• Coastal took control early capturing the first two points of the match, eventually jumping out to a 12-5 lead after a kill by Rinard
• Jaguar answered back with six-straight points as Eva Dittmar slammed home a kill and Anna Loberg dropped in an ace to begin the scoring
• Blackwell then recorded a pair of blocks and after another CCU attack error, Gaier posted a kill to narrow the deficit to one (12-11)
• South kept chipping away and eventually grabbed its first lead (16-15) after back-to-back blocks by Strandberg
• After a Chanticleer time out though, it was Coastal who responded with a run of its own, this one a four-point spurt
• Van Elslande put the Chants up by three (19-16) after back-to-back kills
• South pulled with in one (19-18) two points later after a kill by Gaier – on of her sixth in the set – but CCU eventually stretched its lead back out and took the set (25-19) after a solo block by Rita
• After recording just one total block the night before, South Alabama recorded 10 block assists in the opening frame on Saturday

Set 2 – South Alabama 28, Coastal Carolina 26
• KEY MOMENT: In extra points, Gaier slammed home a kill to put the Jags at set point and O'Gorman and Strandberg then turned back an attack to seal the 28-26 win
• The second set was the tightest of the match as there were 15 ties and six lead changes
• South Alabama cut the deficit to 15-14 after kill by Gaier, but CCU was able to extend the advantage out to three with the next two points
• The Jaguars answered right back with five-unanswered points of its own as Dittmar had a kill to begin the run, and then after a pair of Chanticleer attack errors, Gaier recorded back-to-back kills to give South a 19-17 advantage
• Coastal later tied the set back up and sent it to extra points after a kill by Fowler even things up after the Jags held set point on a Dittmar kill
• Rita tied the set back up (26-26) with another solo block, but Gaier slammed home a kill – one of her nine in the frame – and Strandberg and O'Gorman sealed the win on the next point with a block

Set 3 – South Alabama 25, Coastal Carolina 13
• KEY MOMENT: Holding a three-point advantage, South Alabama used a 5-0 run to take control and never look back in the third set
• Coastal led 9-8 in the third set after a kill by Rinard, but over the next several points, the Jaguars would take control, capturing eight of the 11 points
• Tied at 11-11, Gaier recorded two-straight kills and then teamed up with Blackwell for a block, and O'Gorman then slammed home a kill of her own to give South a four-point lead (15-11)
• With South still leading (15-12), the Jaguars put the set away with a 5-0 run to extend its lead out to eight
• Gaier ignited the run with another kill and Wilson then capped things off with an ace to put South up, 20-12
• Gaier again led the charge late with two more kills to put the Jaguars at set point, and on the ensuing rally, Coastal committed an attack error to give South Alabama the 25-13 win
• South Alabama had its best offensive set in the third, recording .346, and the defense also recorded 10 more block assists to hold the Chanticleers to a -.029 attack percentage

Set 4 – Coastal Carolina 25, South Alabama 11
• KEY MOMENT: Coastal took control of the set with a run of eight-unanswered points midway through the set
• Coastal grabbed three of the first four points in the fourth set and led from there
• South Alabama battled back and trimmed CCU's lead to two (9-7) after a kill by Blackwell, but that was as close as the Jaguars got the rest of the way
• Holding a 14-10 lead later in the set, the Chanticleers took control with an 8-0 run, as Fowler and Van Elslande had two kills each during the spurt
• Fowler later clinched the set (25-11) and evened the match at a set a piece with her fifth kill of the frame
• Coastal recorded a blistering .469 hitting percentage with 15 kills and no attack errors on 32 attempts, while holding the Jags to a .000 percentage

Set 5 – Coastal Carolina 15, South Alabama 9
• KEY MOMENT: South Alabama won a challenge call to even the set at 7-7, but Coastal Carolina reeled off the next five points to take the lead for good
• Fowler ignited the pivotal 5-0 run for CCU with a kill and Rita followed with a block
• Fowler then sandwiched a pair of aces around another solo block by Rita to give the Chanticleers a 12-7 advantage
• Gaier ended the run with a kill, but Ria and Rinard later teamed up for a block to clinch the five-set victory for Coastal
• The Chanticleers recorded a .364 hitting percentage in the final frame and held the Jaguars to a .053 percentage

Post-Match Notes
• The five-set decision marked the third in the last four series meetings between the two clubs and the sixth all-time
• The 27 kills by Gaier eclipsed her previous high of 21 set against Arkansas State last weekend, and marked her third 20-kill match of the season
• The 14 digs by Gaier were also three more than her previous mark of 11 set at Mississippi State
• Gaier now leads the club with 52 sets of four or more kills, including 13 with six or more, and has done so in 38 of her 58 Sun Belt Conference sets played
• Gaier had four or more in seven of her eight sets in the series
• Gaier has led the Jaguar offense in 11 of her last 12 matches and 18 times this fall
• With her 15 digs, Wilson (1,112) moved passed Kailey Keeble (1,098, 2021-23) for ninth place in the category
• Blackwell has had seven or more kills in 14 of her 22 matches this fall, and posted eight or more points in 17 matches
• Over her last 10 matches, Blackwell has recorded 63 total blocks (45 sets – 1.40 per set)
• The double-digit dig match for O'Gorman was her 12th of the season
• Strandberg has had multiple blocks in 15 of her last 18 matches
• Wilson has had 13 or more digs in 24 of her 27 matches this season

Up Next
• South Alabama will open postseason play at the Sun Belt Conference Championship in Foley, Ala. The Jaguars – the second seed in the West – will take on Georgia Southern – the third seed in the East – on Friday with first serve set for 7 p.m. at the Foley Event Center.

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