TROY, Ala. | South Alabama had four players record seven or more kills in the match, and posted 17 total blocks and capture a 3-1 (26-24, 25-17, 13-25, 25-19) victory in the Sun Belt series opener over Troy Thursday evening at Trojan Arena.
The Jaguars (9-12, 4-5 SBC) was led offensively by
Sarah Gooch and
Eva Dittmar, who each had nine kills.
Dalayla Blackwell was outstanding on both sides of the net as she posted seven kills and matched a career high with 11 total blocks – two solo and nine assists.
Elyse Heffner, making her first start of the season, also had seven kills, five block assists and recorded a team- and career-high four aces.
Anabelle Cerny registered her third-straight, double-double as she finished with 31 assist and 15 digs, to go along with a career-best six total blocks – one solo and five assists.
Addison Hurst also had a team-high 15 digs.
Defensively, South Alabama finished with a season-high 17.0 total blocks – four solo and 26 assists.
Troy (12-6, 7-2 SBC) had its six-match win streak snapped with the loss. Kalina Calvillo led the Trojans with 10 kills and three aces. Ashlynn Axtell and Sophie Campo each chipped in with eight kills, while the duo also finished with seven and six total blocks, respectively.
Quotable – head coach Jesse Ortiz
- On the match: "I was really proud of our group tonight. Even though it went four, I thought they played with intent and were aggressive. I liked how we attacked this match mentally. I thought we did a really good job lining up on blocks and making Troy work. Night two of the series is going to be another fight. I like how our team continues to progress and how they keep growing."
How It Happened
Set 1 – South Alabama 26, Troy 24
•
KEY MOMENT: Troy held set point (24-23), but Blackwell took over and recorded a kill and a solo block to ignite a 3-0 run to close out the set and give the Jaguars the set win
• South held an early two-point lead (5-3) in the opening set after block assists by Blackwell and Cerny, but Troy pushed across seven of the next nine points to take a 10-7 lead, as Ocampo recorded a pair of kills and a solo block during the Trojan run
• With Troy leading 13-10, the Trojans committed a serving error and then an attack error, which was followed by kills by Blackwell and Gooch to cap off a 4-0 spurt and give the Jags a 14-13 advantage
• Holding a 17-16 lead later in the set,
Alivia Freeman ignited a 4-1 Jaguar run as she slammed home a kill and then teamed up with Heffner on a block, and after a Trojan point and a serving error, Gooch posted a kill of her own to give South its largest lead at four (21-17)
• Troy took advantage of three Jaguar attack errors and a serving error, reeling off six unanswered points to retake the lead
• After an attack error by Troy, Gooch and Blackwell blocked an attack to tie the set (23-23)
• The Trojans held set point at 24-23, but Blackwell posted the next two points for the Jags – a kill and a solo block – to put the visitors at set point, and after a time out, Heffner dropped in her second ace to seal the win in extra points (26-24)
• Blackwell led the way with three kills and four total blocks – one solo and three assists – in the opening frame, while posting a .429 hitting percentage
• The South Alabama defense also held the Trojans to a .028 hitting percentage, forcing 11 attack errors
Set 2 – South Alabama 25, Troy 17
•
KEY MOMENT: Gooch and Blackwell set the tone from the start of the set as the duo slammed home kills to open the frame
• South Alabama later doubled its lead (10-5) after a kill by Heffner and a pair of attack errors
• After Troy pushed across three-straight points, the Jaguars answered back with four of its own and extending their lead to six (14-8) after block assists by Gooch and Blackwell
• The Trojans pulled within four (14-10), but led by the defense of Blackwell, who scored three of the next three Jaguar points courtesy of a solo block and a pair of block assists, the Jags stretched their lead out to 18-10
• Still leading by eight, reeled off five unanswered and narrowed the Jaguar lead to 20-17 after a block assists by Ocampo and Brooke Forkum
• Troy didn't get any closer though as Freeman and Dittmar led a 5-0 run to close the set as each had a kill and teamed up for a block, while the Jag defense forced two more Trojan attack errors
• South Alabama held Troy to a -.060 hitting percentage, forcing 13 attack errors aided by a solo block and 10 block assists in the set
• Blackwell led the way with four more blocks
Set 3 – Troy 25, South Alabama 13
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KEY MOMENT: After just two aces over the first two sets, Troy, who entered the match ranked third nationally in aces per set, recorded six aces in the set to help the home team pull away
• After the Jaguars grabbed the first point of the third set, Troy reeled off the next four and took a 4-1 lead after a pair of Trojan blocks and an ace by Olivia Kwiatkowski
• South Alabama later pulled within three (11-8) after a kill by
Alivia Freeman, but Troy pushed across three points of its own to double its advantage following an ace by Kwiatkowski, her second of the set
• After a kill by Gooch, the Trojans rattled off three more points and took a 17-9 lead after an ace by Kenzly Foote
• Troy later took a double-digit lead (23-12) after a Calvillo ace and block assists by Ocampo and Kwiatkowski
• South Alabama was unable to record a block in the set, allowing Troy's offense to hit nearly .300 in the frame
• The third set was the lone set in which Troy did not commit an attack error
• The Jaguars also didn't record a block in the set
Set 4 – South Alabama 25, Troy 19
•
KEY MOMENT: Trailing by one (13-12) midway through the set, South Alabama used an 8-1 run to retake the lead for good
• Troy scored the first four points of the fourth set, three coming off Ashlynn Axtell, who had a pair of blocks and a kill
• Trailing by four, South Alabama began to claw its way back as it took eight of the next 10 points
• After tying the set (9-9), Heffner gave the Jags the lead with a kill and Blackwell and Heffer followed with a block to put South up two
• Tied at 13, the Jag defense sparked things after solo blocks by
Alexa Strandberg and Cerny, and an ace by Heffner, her fourth, to give South Alabama a three-point advantage
• South led by two (16-14), but the Jaguars broke it open with four-straight points after a kill and an ace by Gooch, followed by a kill from Dittmar and block assists by Cerny and Strandberg to give South a six-point lead (20-14)
• Over the pivotal 8-1 run, South Alabama posted a pair of solo blocks, two block assists, two aces and a pair of kills
• The Jag defense then sealed the 25-19 set win as Heffner and Blackwell turned back a Trojan attack
• For the second time in the match, South Alabama's defense forced Troy to finish with a negative hitting percentage as it committed nine attack errors and had a -.033 percentage
• South Alabama had two solo blocks and eight block assists in the final set
• Dittmar and Gooch each had four kills in the set as both hit above .400
• Gooch had her four kills on seven attacks for a .571 percentage, while Dittmar had her four on 10 attempts without an error
Post-Match Notes
• The meeting marked the 89th in the all-time series, and South Alabama now leads 54-36
• Cerny's 12 double-doubles are now tied with former Jags Selena Chidester (12, 2001) and Mechell Daniel (12, 2015) for 13th-most in a season
• Cerny has had nine or more digs in 15 of her 21 matches this season, and posted a double-double in four of her last five
• Gooch surpassed the 700-kill mark for her collegiate career, while she now has 703 for her career and 696 at South Alabama
• Blackwell has had three or more total blocks 14 of her 21 matches
• The 17 total blocks eclipsed the previous season-high of 14 set at Auburn (9/19), and the most in a match since recording 15 at Louisiana last season
• The loss was just the third home loss of the season for Troy
Up Next
• South Alabama will close out the series with the Trojans on Friday with first serve set for 6 p.m.
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