BIRMINGHAM, Ala. | Samford held match point in the fifth set, but South Alabama's defense at the net led the rally as the Jaguars closed out the match with three-straight solo blocks to pick up a 3-2 (13-25, 25-18, 25-23, 21-25, 17-15) victory Thursday night at the Alabama Showdown held at the Pete Hannah Center.

Dalayla Blackwell began the pivotal run with a block – one of her eight total blocks on the night (one solo, seven assists), while Sarah Gooch closed out the match with two solo blocks of her own, as she ended the night with a career-high three solo blocks and four total blocks.

Gooch and Cambria Gaier each led South Alabama (5-4) with 15 kills apiece. In addition to her performance on the defensive side of the net, Gooch hit .318 as she committed just one error in her 44 attempts, to go along with her eight digs. Gaier also had three total blocks – two solo and one assist.

Joining the Jag duo in double figures offensively was Alexa Strandberg, who had a career-high 11 kills. Anna Loberg recorded her first double-double of the season with 25 assists and 12 digs. Maradith O'Gorman had four total blocks – one solo and three assists – three aces and a career-high 14 digs. 

Briana Wilson led all players with a match-high 27 digs, and was a big reason South Alabama held a +20 advantage in digs (74-54). South also held a 15.0-3.0 block advantage at the net.

Samford (4-5) was led offensively in the loss by Kaleigh Meritt and Ally Cordes who each had 16 kills 

Quotable – head coach Jesse Ortiz
- On the tough win: "That was a great, tough win tonight, especially with it being our first five-setter this season. I thought our girls answered at all the tough points in the match. We had our chances to win early on, but the match was an absolute dog-fight. I give a lot of credit to Samford and (Kaleigh) Meritt. They have a quality program, and tonight was a tremendous battle in a match that could have gone either way. I'm happy we were victorious tonight. Tomorrow's another adventure and we are going to try and get after it, and be the best we can be."

How It Happened 
Set 1 – Samford 25, South Alabama 13
•    KEY MOMENT: After a kill by Gaier opened the match, Samford pushed across the next four points to grab the lead and take control of the set
•    The Bulldogs later used a 4-0 run and stretched their lead out to as much as 12 
•    Shea Bruntmyer sealed the 25-13 first-set win with a kill
•    Samford was led by Cordes (5) ad Meritt (4) who combined for nine of the Bulldogs' 12 kills and helped the home team post a .385 attack percentage
•    Strandberg had four kills in the set to pace the Jags

Set 2 – South Alabama 25, Samford 18
•    KEY MOMENT: The Bulldogs trimmed the Jaguar lead to one (14-13), but Gaier slammed home back-to-back kills to recaptured the momentum for South
•    Samford grabbed the first two points of the second set, but South Alabama answered back with five unanswered to take its first lead since the opening point
•    Gaier ignited the Jaguar run and then capped off the mini-spurt with another kill
•    Samford cut the South Alabama lead to one (9-8), but the Jaguars rattled off the next five points, highlighted by back-to-back aces by O'Gorman to extend the lead out to 14-9
•    The Bulldogs answered back with a 4-0 run of their own to again pull within one (14-13) after a Jaguar attack error
•    South turned to Gaier though for two-straight kills, going into and coming out of the media time out
•    Gooch and Cambria later posted back-to-back kills to force a Samford time out and give South a 20-15 advantage, and after a Samford time out, Blackwell added another kill
•    Eva Dittmar later sealed the 25-18 win in the second set with the Jaguars' 14th kill of the frame, and even the match back up
•    Gaier had five kills to lead the Jaguar offense in the second set 

Set 3 – South Alabama 25, Samford 23
•    KEY MOMENT: With the Jaguars trailing by two late, Strandberg recorded three-straight points for South to spark a rally
•    South led 3-1 early on in the third set after block assists by Blackwell and Loberg, but Samford answered back with a 7-1 run over the next eight points
•    Jags trimmed the deficit to one four different times over the next several points before tying the frame back up (17-17) after a kill by Blackwell and a block assists from the redshirt sophomore and O'Gorman
•    South later trailed 21-19, but Strandberg recorded the Jags' next three points to tie the set back up
•    South Alabama took a two-point lead and held set point (24-22) after a block assists by Blackwell and Dittmar, and two points later, Gaier sealed the 25-23, third-set win with her 10th kill of the night

Set 4 – Samford 25, South Alabama 21
•    KEY MOMENT: South Alabama cut the Samford lead to three late in the set, but coming out of a time out, Meritt clinched the win for the Bulldogs with a kill 
•    Sophia Plasman had three kills for Samford early on in the fourth set as the Bulldogs jumped out to a 6-1 advantage
•    South answered with a run of its on as Gaier ignited a 5-1 Jaguar scoring spurt with another kill, Loberg then dropped in an ace, and Gooch posted a pair of kills and had a solo block to tie the set back up (7-7)
•    Strandberg later pulled South within one (12-11) with her 10th kill of the match, but Samford recorded four of the next five points and took a 16-12 lead after an ace by Amelia Johnston
•    Samford let two points away from taking the set at 23-16, but South Alabama didn't go away as it made one last push 
•    O'Gorman had a kill and an ace during a 5-1 run that narrowed the deficit to three (24-21)
•    Coming out of a time out though, Meritt sealed the win and evened the match with her 14th kill of the night
•    Samford posted a .421 hitting percentage in the fourth set as the Bulldogs had 18 kills and committed just two errors
•    Gooch and Meritt each led their clubs offensively in the set with six kills each and hit over .500

Set 5 – South Alabama 17, Samford 15
•    KEY MOMENT: Samford rallied back to force extra points and held match point, but the Jaguar defense recorded three-straight solo blocks for the final three points to clinch the match victory
•    The fifth and final set proved to be the hardest fought as there were six ties and four lead changes
•    With Samford holding a 5-3 lead, South Alabama rattled off four-straight points and took a 7-5 lead after a kill by Strandberg
•    The Jaguars stretched the lead out to as much as four late, but the Bulldogs rallied back and tied the set back up at 14-14 after a solo block by Greer Golden
•    Cordes then posted a kill to put Samford at match point, but South closed things out with the three solo blocks to win the set, 17-15
•    In the final frame, Gooch recorded three kills and two blocks
•    The Jag defense also forced seven attack errors and held Samford to a .000 hitting percentage, while posting six blocks

Post-Match Notes
•    The meeting marked the 16th meeting in the all-time series
•    With the win, South has now won three straight in the series
•    Head coach Jesse Ortiz moved into a tie for third-place all-time in wins at South Alabama with Ginger Mayson
•    The 13 points in the first set by the Jags marked a season-low for a set
•    The match marked the first five-setter of the fall for the Jaguars
•    The seven solo blocks by the Jaguars tied for eighth-most in a match in program history
•    Gaier and Gooch have now each led South in kills five times in 2025
•    With her two sets of four or more kills, Gaier now has done so 10 times this fall
•    Gooch has reached double figures in kills seven times – 21 for her career – this season, while Gaier has done so in four of her last five matches
•    Gooch reached the 400-kill mark for her career as she now has 408
•    Gooch has hit .310 or better in her last four matches and had a block in five of her last six
•    Gooch now has 34 sets with four or more kills in her Jaguar career, including 13 of six or more
•    Blackwell has had five or more kills in all nine matches this fall
•    Wilson's 27 digs were the third-most of her career and her 11th career match of 20 or more

Up Next
•    South Alabama will continue play at the Alabama Showdown on Friday when the Jags take on UAB with first serve set for 3:30 p.m.

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