MOBILE, Ala. | Cambria Gaier and Eva Dittmar each set new career highs in kills, combining for 32 kills to lead South Alabama to a 3-1 (25-19, 26-24, 18-25, 25-20) victory in the series opener Friday night at Jag Gym.

With the win, South Alabama (14-10, 9-4 SBC) moves into first place in the Sun Belt Conference West Division and will have an opportunity on Saturday to secure the No. 1 seed with a win in the series finale.

Gaier posted 21 kills on the night and also added eight digs, a pair of aces and a pair of blocks in the win. Dittmar chipped in with a career-best 12 kills, and Maradith O'Gorman added 11 kills and seven digs of her own.

Anna Loberg recorded her fifth double-double of the fall with 46 assists and 14 digs to go along with four total blocks – one solo and three assists. Briana Wilson led all players with 24 digs – her 10th 20-dig match.

Arkansas State (16-8, 9-4 SBC) was led offensively by Addison Collum's 13 kills and .462 attack percentage. Daedrianna Cail nearly recorded a double-double of her own, finishing with eight kills and nine total blocks – three solo and six assists – in the loss.

Quotable – head coach Jesse Ortiz
- On the importance of getting the match victory tonight: "Arkansas State is really good, and we entered tonight's match tied for the West Division lead. Our win tonight, puts us ahead. These are the great types of matches that we want to be in at the end of the year. I'm really proud of our group, and the tenacity and the drive that they had. Everyone showed up today; it was a complete team effort."

- On the multiple contributions from many different players: "They are all just working hard. Our seniors are leading from the front, and the youngsters are following them, and seeing what it's like. You see a kid like Cam (Cambria Gaier) who is just thriving right now around all that leadership; it's pretty awesome. To have 21 kills is not a small number. I loved how Maradith (O'Gorman) and Lexi (Alexa Strandberg) were super-efficient."

- On what South needs to do tomorrow: "We made a few too many errors in our service game in the set we lost. We had too many attacking errors. We just have to calm down and play good ball, play our game. If we play Jaguar volleyball, we'll be just fine."

Senior Right Side Hitter Maradith O'Gorman
- On getting off the quick start: "We talk a lot about coming out strong; the first five points matter in every single game. We've been working on that in practice and winning games to five (points). Instead of worrying about the match as a whole, we worry about getting to five and what's in front of us. I think that really helped the outcome tonight."

- On bouncing back after the sweep last weekend: "We knew both weekends were going to be tough, so bouncing back from the two losses we had against a very good JMU team was big. We were focused on this weekend series, instead of looking back at our losses."

How It Happened 
Set 1 – South Alabama 25, Arkansas State 19
•    KEY MOMENT: Wilson recorded two big digs on Arkansas State's first two swings to keep the ball alive, and Eva Dittmar capitalized later in the opening point with a kill to set the tone early for the Jaguars
•    O'Gorman and Strandberg helped South Alabama jump out to the early eight-point advantage (11-3) as the duo combined to record five of the Jaguars points during the run
•    Arkansas State cut the Jaguar lead to five (14-9) after blocks by Kaitlin Whitlock and Haley Glunz
•    Dittmar later sealed the 25-19 win for South Alabama with a kill
•    O'Gorman posted five kills during the opening set, while Gaier added four of her own
•    Wilson moved into the Top 10 at South Alabama in career digs with six in the set
•    Collum had six kills and hit .857 in the set for the Red Wolves

Set 2 – South Alabama 26, Arkansas State 24
•    KEY MOMENT: Tied at 24-24, Gaier slammed home back-to-back kills to seal the set win and give South the 2-0 match lead
•    Arkansas State lead by as much as three early on (10-7), South Alabama was able to push across the next three points – kills by Gaier and Dittmar and a Red Wolf attack error – to tie the set back up
•    Blackwell kill and solo block to give South its second lead of the set (15-14)
•    Tied 17-17, South Alabama picked up the next two points on kills by Blackwell and Dittmar
•    The Red Wolves answered right back with three-straight points, but trailing by one, the Jaguars had a 3-0 spurt of their own
•    Loberg and Strandberg posted a kill each and Strandberg then teamed up with O'Gorman on the block to give South a 21-20 advantage
•    Gaier came up big down the stretch for South Alabama as the freshman recorded the Jags' final three points, the last two coming on consecutive kills to seal the 26-24 win in extra points
•    The freshman outside hitter posted five more kills in the frame, while Dittmar added four of her own
•    There were 14 ties and seven lead changes in the second set

Set 3 – Arkansas State 25, South Alabama 18
•    KEY MOMENT: Trailing by one, Cail ignited a 5-0 run midway through the set to give the Red Wolves the lead for good
•    Arkansas State took the lead and gained some breathing room midway through the third set with a run
•    South Alabama led 14-13 after a kill by O'Gorman, but the Red Wolves reeled off five unanswered points 
•    Cail ignited the ASU run with a kill, after a Jaguar attack error, Collum sandwiched a pair of kills around a kill by Glunz to put the visitors up 18-14
•    Gaier later cut the deficit to three (20-17) with her 12th kill of the match, but Arkansas State picked up five of the final six points

Set 4 – South Alabama 25, Arkansas State 20
•    KEY MOMENT: Arkansas State cut the Jaguar lead to one late in the set, but Gaier recorded three-straight kills to extend South's lead out to four
•    South Alabama took the first point of the fourth set, but the Red Wolves answered back with six of the next eight to jump out to a 6-3 lead 
•    Arkansas State forced South into five attack errors and recorded three blocks during the run
•    Trailing by three (9-6), Dittmar sparked the Jaguar offense with three-straight points
•    O'Gorman then tied the set back up and on the next point, ASU was called for four hits to give South a 10-9 advantage
•    ASU later led 15-13, but Jaguars reclaimed the lead with a 3-0 scoring spurt and took a 16-15 lead after block assists by Dalayla Blackwell and Loberg, and an ace by Gaier
•    South Alabama held 19-18 lead later in the frame, but Gaier recorded three-straight kills to extend the lead out to four (22-18)
•    Gaier later put South at set point with her 21st kill of the night and O'Gorman clinched the match as her serve trickled just over the net to end the match
•    Gaier was outstanding in the final set, recording nine kills and an ace, while Dittmar posted five kills and hit .500 in the set

Post-Match Notes
•    Gaier now leads the club with 44 sets of four or more kills, including 10 with six or more, and has done so in 30 of her 47 Sun Belt Conference sets played
•    Gaier's nine kills in the fourth set were her most in a single set this fall
•    The double-double was also the 15th of Loberg's career
•    Wilson (1,082) move into the Top 10 in career digs at South, passing Emily Hundt (1,062, 2012-15), and she is just 16 shy of tying Kailey Keeble (1,098, 2021-23) for ninth place in the category
•    Loberg (1,885) is 15 assists shy of 1,900 for her career, and 36 assists shy of assists shy of moving into seventh place all-time at South Alabama in the category
•    Wilson (1,082) moved into the Top 10 in career digs at South, passing Hundt (1,062) and 16 shy of tying Kailey Keeble (1,098, 2021-23) for ninth place in the category
•    Blackwell has had seven or more kills in 13 of her 19 matches this fall, and posted eight or more points in 16 of her 19 matches, recording 11.0 or more points in seven of her last nine
•    Over her last nine matches, Blackwell has recorded 53 total blocks (37 sets – 1.43 per set)
•    Gaier has recorded 12 or more kills in 18 of her last 22, and recorded double figures 19 times
•    Gaier has had an ace in 11 of her last 14 matches, and has led the Jaguar offense in eight of her last nine matches
•    O'Gorman has had seven or more digs in 18 of her 24 matches this fall
•    O'Gorman has eight or more kills in seven of her last eight matches (84 total), and hit over .300 in four of those outings
•    Strandberg has had multiple blocks in 13 of her last 15 matches 

Up Next
•    South Alabama will close out the series with Arkansas State on Saturday with first serve set for 1 p.m. Following the match, South Alabama will honor its five seniors.

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