MILWAUKEE | South Alabama redshirt freshman Alexa Strandberg recorded a career-high 11 total blocks and the Jaguar frontcourt posted 16 blocks as a group to defeat Milwaukee, 3-1 (21-25, 25-20, 25-23, 25-22) Sunday afternoon on the final day of the Panther Invitational held at the Klotsche Center.

Strandberg finished with five solo blocks and six block assists, while as a group South Alabama (2-3) had six solo and 20 assists. 

Offensively, Cambria Gaier registered a career-high 17 kills and posted a .452 hitting percentage to go along with three service aces, two digs and a block assist. Sarah Gooch also chipped in with 13 kills of her own.

Milwaukee (0-5) was led offensively by the duo of Natalie Schmitz and Bella Lipski, who had 17 and 11 kills, respectively. Lipski also finished with six total blocks for the Panthers.

Quotable – head coach Jesse Ortiz
- On the team battling back: "I'm really excited about how we played today, not necessarily with how we started the match, but more so with how we responded. We kept getting better as the match went on. I thought Lexi (Alexa Strandberg) was big with those blocks, and Cam (Cambria Gaier) really put on a show, showcasing why she's one of the better rookies in our league. I loved the leadership from Anna (Loberg), Maradith (O'Gorman) and Sarah (Gooch), and the way our team kept plugging away against a team who was desperate for a win. I'm really proud of the girls and overall this weekend was a great learning experience for us.

How It Happened 
Set 1 – Milwaukee 25, South Alabama 21
•    KEY MOMENT: After South had pulled within one, Milwaukee closed out the opening set with the final three points to take the early match lead
•    Milwaukee opened the match on a 4-0 run, but South Alabama battled back and grabbed its first lead after three-straight blocks by Strandberg.
•    The Jaguars led 15-13 midway through the opening frame, but led by Schmitz, the Panthers rattled off four-straight points. Schmitz had three kills and a block during the run.
•    Trailing 22-18, South Alabama battled back and narrowed the deficit to one after a kill by Gaier
•    Coming out of a time out, the Panthers closed out the set with the final three points
•    Milwaukee recorded seven blocks and held the Jaguars to a -.091 hitting percentage as they committed 11 attack errors

Set 2 – South Alabama 25, Milwaukee 20
•    KEY MOMENT: After having its lead cut to one (6-5), the Jaguars rattled off the next five points to regain control of the second set
•    After dropping the opening set, South Alabama opened the second on a 4-0 run that was highlighted by a pair of aces by Gaier
•    The Panthers cut the South Alabama lead to 6-5, but a run of five-straight points by the Jags, highlighted by back-to-back aces by Maradith O'Gorman and a block assists by Gaier and Strandberg gave the visitors an 11-5 advantage
•    From there, South Alabama held the lead and every time Milwaukee threatened, the Jags had the answer
•    Gooch sealed the second-set win and evened the match with her fourth kill of the afternoon

Set 3 – South Alabama 25, Milwaukee 23
•    KEY MOMENT: Milwaukee was able to pull within one on several occasions down the stretch, but Gaier and Gooch recorded the final four points for the Jaguars 
•    Schmitz had four kills over Milwaukee's first five points
•    Trailing by five (10-5), South Alabama was able to rally back behind the defensive play of Strandberg at the net, who had two solo blocks and a block assist
•    The Jags reeled off six of the next seven points to tie the set back up at 11-11
•    Milwaukee answered with three-straight points to retake the lead, but South kept fighting and eventually tied the set back up and at 16-16, took its first lead of the frame after a Panther attack error and a kill by Dalayla Blackwell
•    Gaier and Gooch with South's final four points as each had two kills, with the latter sealing the win with her 10th kill of the afternoon
•    The duo combined for 10 kills in the set – Gooch (6) and Gaier (4) – and committed just one attack error in their 20 combined attacks
•    Strandberg had three solo blocks and a block assists in the frame

Set 4 – South Alabama 25, Milwaukee 22
•    KEY MOMENT: Leading 23-22, Blackwell sealed the set and match victory with a kill and a block assist on South's final two points
•    Milwaukee grabbed the first three points of the set, but South Alabama answered back with seven of the next eight points
•    The set remained close over the next several points with eight ties between the two teams, and tied at 17-all, South took the lead for good after a kill by Eva Dittmar and a Panther attack error
•    South extended its lead out to 21-18 after Gaier's 15th kill of the match, but Milwaukee kept battling
•    Gaier posted two more kills later in the frame – her fifth and sixth of the set – to put the Jags up 23-20, but the Panthers answered back with the next two points to pull within one
•    Blackwell then slammed home a kill to put South at match point, and then teamed up with O'Gorman on the next point to turn back an attack and give the Jaguars the 25-22 win
•    South Alabama posted its best offensive performance of the match in the clincher, hitting .324
•    There were 11 ties and four lead changes in the fourth and final set

Post-Match Notes
•    The meeting marked the first in the all-time series between the two programs
•    The opening set win by Milwaukee marked the Panthers' first set win of the season
•    The 25-20 win in the second set, marked the first time this fall that the Jaguars have won the second set
•    The 11 blocks in the match were a new career high for Strandberg, and the first double-digit block performance by a Jag since Lillie Simons (10.0, 0-10--10) at Troy (9/27/24)
•    Strandberg now has nine solo blocks on the season and 25 total blocks
•    Third match this season for Gaier with nine or more kills
•    South Alabama has recorded 10 or more blocks in three of its first five matches this season
•    The 16 blocks were a season high and the nine service aces were one shy of matching the season-best by the club in the category
•    The Jaguars held a 9-1 advantage in the service aces category
•    The matched Gooch's third double-digit kill match this fall
•    The 17 kills by Gaier were a new career high for the freshman
•    Gaier recorded four or more kills in three of South's four sets, all wins
•    Dating back to last season, Wilson has posted 15 or more digs in 22 of her last 23 matches
•    Anna Loberg surpassed the 1,200 assists mark for her career as she now has 1,223

Up Next
•    South Alabama will return home to host the Jaguar Invitational presented by Hampton by Hilton at Providence Park. The Jags will open tournament play on Thursday when they welcome Southeastern Louisiana with first serve set for 6 p.m. at Jag Gym.

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