MOBILE, Ala. | The South Alabama one-two punch of Cambria Gaier and Sarah Gooch combined for 25 kills as the Jaguars picked up a 3-0 (25-22, (25-20, 25-18) victory Thursday night one night one of the Jaguar Invitational presented by Hampton by Hilton at Providence Park.

Gaier led the club with 13 kills on 24 attacks, while Gooch had 12 kills and 24 attacks. The duo each posted a .417 hitting percentage in the win. 

The Jaguars even their record (3-3) with the win, while the Lions drop their first match of the season to fall to 5-1.

Quotable – head coach Jesse Ortiz
- On the team's focus coming into the match: "We really put a lot of energy into our practices this week. We want to put a body of work together showing that we are one of the better teams in the country, let alone the Sun Belt (Conference). I'm really proud of them. I thought they worked to be excellent."

- On the one-two bunch of Cambria Gaier and Sarah Gooch: "They've been unreal. We've had a lot of competition during the early preseason, and I really like how the team's been responding to it, but these two especially have been hammers. We're excited to see what they can do this season."

Freshman outside hitter Cambria Gaier
- On the team's motivation: "We lost to them (Southeastern Louisiana) last season and we had such a fire coming into this match. We had a really big drive to win and we came out and performed. We were able to go out on the court and perform everything we had worked on in practice this week. I'm proud of my team."

Junior outside hitter Sarah Gooch
- On her performance: "Recently, we've worked to just continue to build each set. I'm surrounded by a lot of great hitters, a lot of new hitters. We have a pretty spread offense, so it's a lot of fun when I can still get a few kills here and there."

How It Happened 
Set 1 – South Alabama 25, Southeastern Louisiana 22
•    KEY MOMENT: Tied 22-22 late in the first set, Dalayla Blackwell ignited a 3-0 Jaguar run to close the set with her second kill
•    South led by four (16-12) after an ace by Anna Loberg, when SELA was called out of rotation, but the Lions battled back to tie the set back up at 18-18 after a kill by Lily Morgan
•    The two clubs were tied at 22-22 late in the set, but Blackwell slammed home a kill and Loberg dropped in her second ace of the frame to put the Jags at set point
•    Coming out of a time out, Southeastern committed an attack error to give the Jaguars the 25-22 win
•    Gaier led the offensive attack for the Jags as she had four kills and hit .500 in the frame
•    Defensively, South recorded one solo block and 11 block assists, four from Blackwell and three from Gaier
•    The opening set saw 13 ties and four lead changes between the two clubs

Set 2 – South Alabama 25, Southeastern Louisiana 20
•    KEY MOMENT: After Southeastern had cut the Jaguar lead to two (17-15), South was able to gain some breathing room and take control of the set as it pushed across three-straight points to extend its lead out to five
•    While there were only three lead changes and five ties, the second set remained relatively close through much of the set
•    South Alabama was able to take control for good with a 3-0 spurt midway through after a SELA serving error, an attack error and a kill by Maradith O'Gorman
•    Gaier had another solid set as the freshman recorded six kills on 13 attacks and committed just one attack error for a .385 hitting percentage
•    As a team, South committed just three attack errors and hit .333, while the Lions doubled that error total and hit .184

Set 3 – South Alabama 25, Southeastern Louisiana 18
•    KEY MOMENT: With South leading by three (15-12), Gooch slammed home a kill for the Jags, which never allowed Southeastern to draw any closer 
•    Neither team was able to gain more than a two-point advantage through much of the first half of the set
•    Gooch was outstanding in the final set as she had seven kills and hit .636
•    For the second-straight set, South hit over .300 as a team and held the Lions to a .143 hitting percentage after they committed eight attack errors

Post-Match Notes
•    The meeting marked the 44th in the all-time series and the Jaguars improve to 25-19
•    Dating back to 2006, South has now won nine of the last 10 meetings
•    Gaier has now had nine or more kills in four of her six matches, including three if 10 or more
•    The 13 kills were also her second-most this fall in a match
•    Gaier has also had seven sets with four or more kills as she had four in the first and six in the second 
•    The 12 kills by Gooch marked her 18th double-digit kill match as a Jag
•    The seven kills by Gooch in the third set marked a season high by a South Alabama player in a single set
•    Gooch now has 28 sets with four or more kills in her Jaguar career, including nine of six or more
•    The double digit dig match was the 34th of Wilson's career

Up Next
•    South Alabama will continue play at the Jaguar Invitational on Saturday when it welcomes Tulane. First serve versus the Green Wave is set for 3:30 p.m. at Jag Gym.

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