MILWAUKEE | The South Alabama duo of Sarah Gooch and Cambria Gaier combined for 32 kills as the Jaguars picked up their first win of the season with a 3-1 (25-16, 14-25, 25-18, 25-22) victory over Central Michigan on Friday at the Panther Invitational held at the Klotsche Center.

Gooch finished with a match-high 20 kills as the junior outside hitter also had eight digs and hit .381. Gaier had 12 kills of her own, and added two aces and four blocks (two solo – two assists), while posting a .370 attack percentage. Dalayla Blackwell nearly reached double figures as the redshirt sophomore had nine kills and three block assists. Alexa Strandberg led South (1-2) defensively with five total blocks – three solo and two assists – and a career high three aces.

Anna Loberg nearly recorded a double-double as she finished with 37 assists and nine digs. Briana Wilson led the defense in the backcourt with 18 digs.

Central Michigan (1-4) was led offensively by Izzy Swiercz's 10 kills. Abby Olin had six total blocks – four solo and two assists for the Chippewas.

Quotable – head coach Jesse Ortiz
- On the match: "We came out really strong in the first set. I thought our team did a tremendous job and that Anna (Loberg) did a great job running the offense. Sarah (Gooch) and Cambria (Gaier) were great in the 'pins' and Dalayla (Blackwell) was excellent up the middle. You could see the team was really honoring her a ton. Central Michigan has the makings of a great squad and they were really getting after us. I'm really glad for us to get that first one. Tomorrow is going to be a dog-fight, so we're hoping for a good match."

How It Happened 
Set 1 – South Alabama 25, Central Michigan 16
•    KEY MOMENT: After CMU had trimmed the Jaguar lead to 17-13, Gaier recorded back-to-back kills to ignite a pivotal 6-1 run late in the set
•    South Alabama broke an early 3-3 tie and took control of the opening set with a 7-0 run
•    Strandberg had a pair of blocks – solo and assist – and a kill during the run for the Jaguars
•    The Chippewas narrowed the deficit to four (17-13), but coming out of a time out Gaier answered back as she recorded four of South's next five points and ignited a 6-1 run
•    During the run, Gaier recorded four of her five kills in the set to lead South offensively, while Gooch capped off the run with her sixth to give the Jags a 23-14 advantage
•    Gaier then sealed the 25-16 victory with an ace
•    South came out on fire offensively as it hit .429 and held CMU to a .129 hitting percentage in the opening frame
•    Gooch six kills (.417) and Gaier five kills (.556) combined for 11 of South's 17 kills, while Strandberg had three total blocks

Set 2 – Central Michigan 25, South Alabama 1
•    KEY MOMENT: CMU ratted off a 9-1 run to break an early tie in the second set to even the match at a set apiece
•    Tied at 3-3, it was the Chippewas turn to use an early run to pull away as they rattled off nine of the next 10 points
•    Olin bookended the run with a pair of kills, the last giving Central Michigan a 12-4 advantage
•    Jags cut deficit to 13-9 after back-to-back aces by Strandberg, but that was as close as South was able to get in the set
•    Central Michigan picked up the final four points of the frame to even the match with the 25-14 second-set win
•    CMU hit a blistering .536 in the frame with 16 kills on 28 attacks and just one error, while South hit .121 and committed six errors after just two in the opening set
•    Maggie Uhwat (5) and Swiercz (4) led the CMU offense, while five players had multiple kills 

Set 3 – South Alabama 25, Central Michigan 18
•    KEY MOMENT: After a CMU serving error, Gaier recorded a kill and a solo block as the Jaguars broke a 5-5 tie and took nine of the next 10 points
•    Tied 5-5, South Alabama was able to push across six unanswered points, which began 9-1 run for the Jaguars
•    Gaier had a kill and a pair of solo blocks, while Strandberg capped off the scoring with her third ace to put South up 14-6
•    South led 17-9 after a kill by Blackwell, but Central Michigan cut the deficit down to four (17-13) after four-straight points which was capped off by an ace from Grace Thomas
•    The Jaguars were able to stretch the lead back out and hold on for the 25-18 win, which was sealed with blocks by Blackwell and Gaier
•    Gooch had another solid set as she finished with five kills in the frame and hit .400

Set 4 – South Alabama 25, Central Michigan 22
•    KEY MOMENT: After the Chippewas had trimmed the Jaguar lead to two (24-22), Gooch slammed home her 20th kill of the match to clinch the victory for South Alabama
•    Trailing by one (8-7) South Alabama pushed across the next five points to go up 12-8
•    Gaier and Blackwell ignited the run with a kill each, and then after a kill by Gooch, the duo teamed up for a block, and Loberg then capped off the run with an ace
•    The Chippewas were able to get as close as two on three different occasions down the stretch, but Gooch sealed the match victory and gave South the 25-22 fourth-set win with a kill
•    Gooch led South with six kills in the set and hit .417

Post-Match Notes
•    The meeting marked the first in the all-time series between the two programs
•    The 10 service aces mark the first time South has reached double-digits in the category since last season versus Alabama State (9/13/24)
•    Three players recorded multiple assists – Strandberg (3), Gaier (2) and Wilson (2)
•    The 20 kills by Gooch marked the third 20-plus kill match of her career, and the eight digs were the third-most in her career and tied for her most at South Alabama
•    Gooch now has 26 sets with four or more kills in her Jaguar career, including eight of six or more
•    Dating back to last season, Wilson has posted 15 or more digs in 20 of her last 21 matches
•    The three blocks by Blackwell marked her 13th career match with three or more blocks
•    Blackwell's nine kills were one shy of matching her career best in the category
•    The double digit dig match was the 31st of Wilson's career
•    The 12 kills were the first double-digit kill match of Gaier's career

Up Next
•    South Alabama will continue play at the Panther Invitational when the Jags take on Iowa State on Saturday at 1 p.m. (CT).

FOLLOW THE JAGS
For complete coverage of South Alabama Volleyball, follow the Jags on social media @SouthAlabamaVB (Twitter), /SouthAlabama (Facebook), @southalabamavb (Instagram) or visit the official home of South Alabama athletics at USAJaguars.com.