NEW ORLEANS – South Alabama's Anna Loberg was selected as the Sun Belt Conference Preseason Setter of the Year on Wednesday as voted on by the league coaches, while the senior and fellow Jag Sarah Gooch were also named to the all-conference squad.

Loberg – a first-team, all-Sun Belt Conference selection in 2024 – was twice named SBC Setter of the Week in back-to-back weeks during the season, coming in Week 7 and Week 8. She ranked second in the Sun Belt in assists (1,022) – which was eighth-most in a single season at South Alabama – and averaged assists per set (10.12).

In league play, South's offense ranked second in assists and hitting percentage, and third in kills. Loberg averaged 11.13 assists per set during South's 10-match win streak, which saw the Jags sweep five-straight conference series. She also was an offensive threat as she has 57 kills.

Loberg led the team with 24 service aces, and recorded 241 digs (2.39 per set). She had 10 double-doubles during the fall, which were second-most on the club, and recorded 30 or more assists in 20 of her 27 matches, 10 with 40 or more, and had a pair of 50-assists performances.

Gooch became of the up-and-coming offensive threats in the SBC in her first season in Mobile since transferring from West Virginia. The junior outside hitter earned Second-Team all-Sun Belt Conference honors after ranking second on the team in kills (288) and kills per set (2.85), points (329.5) and points per set (3.26) coming off the bench. She also recorded 17 aces, 100 digs and 38 total blocks.

Gooch emerged as an offensive threat in Sun Belt play as she averaged 3.23 kills per set, which ranked 10th in the league. She had 25 sets with four or more kills – second-most on the club – including 11 of five or more. Of her 25 sets with four or more, 23 came against Sun Belt foes, and she twice recorded 10 kills in a single set, both against league foes (at James Madison and vs. Coastal Carolina). 

The Apopka, Fla., native, led the club in kills in 11 matches and recorded nine or more kills in 17 of her final 21 matches, including 14 of her final 16, and 13 in double figures over the 21-match stretch. She had 14 matches of 10 or more kills, with 12 coming against SBC foes.

South Alabama will travel to Tallahassee, Fla., for its second exhibition match versus Florida State on Saturday with first serve set for 1 p.m. (CT).

Sun Belt Conference Preseason Awards
Player of the Year
Jalyn Stout, Coastal Carolina (Jr., S, Gainesville, Fla.)

Setter of the Year
Anna Loberg, South Alabama (RS Sr., S, Geneva, Ill.)

Libero of the Year
Sunni Sheppard, Southern Miss (Jr., L, Brandon, Miss.)

Preseason All-Sun Belt Team
Jalyn Stout, Coastal Carolina (Jr. S, Gainesville, Fla.)
Reagan Barth, Georgia Southern (Jr., OH, Lenexa, Kan.)
Samantha Wunsch, Texas State (RS Jr., OH, Austin, Texas)
Jade Defraeye, Texas State (Sr., MB, Dunkirk, France)
Maya Winterhoff, App State (Sr., MB, Charlottesville, Va.)
Sarah Gooch, South Alabama (Jr., OH, Apopka, Fla.)
Daedrianna Cail, Arkansas State (Sr., MB, Marion, Ark.)
Anna Loberg, South Alabama (RS Sr., S, Geneva, Ill.)
Kaitlin Whitlock, Arkansas State (Jr., OH, San Antonio, Texas)
Amiah Butler, Troy (Sr., OH, Pensacola, Fla.)
Addison Heidemann, App State (RS Sr., S, Diller, Neb.)
Kirsten Barrett, Georgia Southern (Sr., S, Cleveland, Ohio)

Sun Belt Preseason Coaches' Poll
East Division
1. Georgia Southern (9) – 87
2. James Madison (2) – 77
3. Coastal Carolina (2) – 75
4. App State (1) – 61
5. Georgia State – 44
6. Old Dominion – 27
7. Marshall – 21

West Division
1. Texas State (11) – 95
2. Arkansas State (3) – 81
3. SOUTH ALABAMA – 68
4. Troy – 54
5. Louisiana – 42
6. Southern Miss – 38
7. ULM – 14

First-place votes in parenthesis

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