MOBILE, Ala. | South Alabama's Cambria Gaier posted her eighth double-digit kill match of the season as the Jaguars opened up Sun Belt Conference play with a 3-1 (25-18, 25-18, 21-25, 25-18) at Jag Gym Friday evening.

Gaier led South Alabama (6-6, 1-0 SBC) with 13 kills and also added a pair of aces. Maradith O'Gorman was flawless as she had 10 kills on 20 attacks and didn't commit an error, while also posting an ace, seven digs and six block assists.

Sarah Gooch was just outside double figures with nine kills, while Eva Dittmar, Elyse Heffner and Alexa Strandberg each had five. Strandberg also led the Jags with seven total blocks – one solo and six assists, while Heffner posted a career-high five block assists of her own. As a team, the Jags held a 12.5 – 5.0 advantage in blocks in the win.

Briana Wilson led all players with 14 digs, her 11th match this season of 13 or more.

Troy (2-7, 0-1 SBC) was led offensively by Amiah Butler's 17 kills in the loss.

Quotable – head coach Jesse Ortiz
- On opening conference play with the win: "We respect Troy a ton. We always seem to have knock-out-drag-out battles with them. It seems like the home team's environment seems to help out. (Troy head coach) Josh Lauer does a great job with his group and you know they are going to be formattable. We had great practices this week, and I felt our players were really into the match. It was good to see us in command for most of the match."

- On the multiple offensive weapons in this group: "We have some youngsters out there and some veterans. We have a lot of arm speed, which sometimes will get you in trouble when people start hitting it 31-feet, instead of the 29.6, but we want to make sure we spread the ball around, and that everyone gets involved in the party. It's a full team effort when we see that, which is a little different than we've played it in the past, but something we're really proud of and like."

Senior Setter Anna Loberg
- On the performance of the team in the match: "It all comes down to what we do in practice, and we came to practice this week ready to start Sun Belt Conference play strong. We wanted to master the little things in the game and follow our game plan in the match, which paid off."

- On having so many offensive options to go to as a setter: "Everyone is a hitter and everyone is a threat. I can trust anyone at anytime to put the ball away, which is really special."

How It Happened 
Set 1 – South Alabama 25, Troy 18
•    KEY MOMENT: With Troy leading by three early on in the opening set, South Alabama took control of the frame with a 9-2 run
•    Troy led 5-2 after a solo block, but after a Trojan error on the ensuing point, South Alabama took nine of the next 11 points to take control of the set
•    Gaier posted back-to-back aces and a kill, and Strandberg later teamed up with O'Gorman for a block and then posted a kill of her own to give South the 11-6 advantage
•    Gaier had four kills in the set, while four other players also recorded multiple put away
•    The Jaguars hit .303 as a group in the first set, and Gaier later sealed the 25-18 win with a kill

Set 2 – South Alabama 25, Troy 18
•    KEY MOMENT: Holding just a two-point lead, Strandberg capped off a 6-0 run with a solo block of Sydney Austin to put the Jaguars out comfortably (22-15)
•    Troy led by as much as four (6-2) early on in the second set after two-straight Ashlynn Axtell kills
•    South Alabama kept chipping away at the deficit and took its first lead of the set (11-10) after a block assist by Strandberg and Dittmar
•    Later leading by two (17-15), the Jaguars pushed across six-straight points, which was highlighted by two more blocks by Strandberg – who ended the set with four total blocks – one solo and three assists – in the frame
•    Rachel Rossman then clinched the set with an ace to give South the 25-18 set victory and a 2-0 lead in the match
•    South Alabama posted its best offensive performance of the match in the second set, recording a .421 hitting percentage, while forcing the Trojans to commit nine attack errors and hold them to a .037 percentage
•    Gooch led South with four kills in the frame, while Gaier had three kills and didn't commit and error in her five attempts

Set 3 – Troy 25, South Alabama 21
•    KEY MOMENT: South Alabama led 9-8 in the third set, but Sara Bates and Ella Broadhead ignited a 6-0, momentum-swinging run for Troy 
•    During the pivotal run, Butler had a pair of kills and the Jags committed four attack errors
•    The Trojan lead never dipped below four for most of the remainder of the set
•    South was able to pull within three (24-21) late after a kill by Heffner, but Troy took the next point and the set after the seventh attack error of the frame
•    Troy had its best offensive showing in the third set as it hit .351 and was led by Butler's six kills

Set 4 – South Alabama 25, Troy 18
•    KEY MOMENT: Leading by one (8-7), the Jaguars were able to push across six unanswered points to take control of the fourth and final set
•    Following a Trojan service error, Dittmar then recorded a kill for the Jaguars, and after three-straight attack errors, O'Gorman and Strandberg put the Jags up, 14-7 with another block
•    South Alabama went on to lead by as much as nine, before eventually taking the set (25-18) and the match
•    Gaier added four more kills in the set and hit .429, while the Jaguar defense held a 4.5 – 0.0 block advantage in the frame

Post-Match Notes
•    The meeting marked the 88th series meeting and the 43rd since 2005 when the Trojans joined the Sun Belt Conference
•    The Jaguars now hold a 52-36 advantage in the all-time series, and the win snaps a three-match win streak in the series by the Trojans
•    South is also 29-13 in the series on its home floor
•    Gaier posted two more sets with at least four kills and the freshman now has 17 sets of four or more this fall
•    Gaier has recorded 12 or more kills in eight of her last 10
•    With her seven digs in the match, O'Gorman surpassed the 300-dig mark for her career as she now has 302
•    O'Gorman has had seven or more digs in nine of her 12 matches this fall
•    The six block assists by O'Gorman marked the sixth time in her last eight matches that she has had multi-block performances
•    With her three block assists, Gooch has had a block in seven of her last nine
•    Anna Loberg has had an ace in seven her last eight and in nine of her last 11 matches
•    Strandberg has had three or more blocks in six of her last eight and nine of her 12 matches this season

Up Next
•    South Alabama will take on the Trojans in match two of the SBC series on Saturday with first serve set for 1 p.m.

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