TROY, Ala. |
Eva Dittmar recorded a career-high 20 kills and
Dalayla Blackwell added a career-best 13 total blocks, but Troy rallied back to pick up a 3-2 (17-25, 25-16, 15-25, 25-20, 15-10) win over South Alabama Friday evening at Trojan Arena.
Sarah Gooch also finished in double figures for the Jaguars (9-13, 4-6 SBC) with 13 kills of her own and recorded 10 digs for her third double-double of the fall.
Led by Blackwell – who finished with a solo block and 12 block assists, also a career high – South Alabama posted a season-high 19.0 total blocks.
Elyse Heffner added eight block assists, while
Anabelle Cerny added six block assists to go along with her fourth-straight double-double (40 assists, 17 digs).
Troy (13-6, 8-2 SBC) placed four players in double figures offensively, led by Olivia Kwiatkowski's 14 kills. Isa Reuther added 12 kills, and Kalina Calvillo and Ashlynn Axtell each registered 10 kills of their own.
Kwiatkowski added 11 digs to give her a double-double, and Calvillo had four of Troy's nine aces in the match.
Quotable – head coach Jesse Ortiz
- On the match: "I thought there was a lot of good that happened on our side tonight. Credit to Troy for pulling that one out. We had a ton of blocks against them and our hitting percentage was higher, but when it got close, I thought they were a little more efficient in the serve-and-pass game. I thought we had good intent and good focus, but the ball just didn't bounce our way today."
How It Happened
Set 1 – South Alabama 25, Troy 17
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KEY MOMENT: Holding a two-point advantage, Heffner and Gooch recorded back-to-back points to begin a 9-3 Jaguar run to close the first set
• After the two clubs traded the first two points of the match, Heffner recorded a pair of kills and
Alivia Freeman followed with back-to-back aces, and after a Trojan point, Blackwell added a pair of block assists teaming up with Heffner and Cerny to give the Jags a 7-2 advantage
• Troy was able to cut two the Jaguar lead to two on five occasions over the next several points, but with South leading 16-14, Gooch and Heffner slammed home a pair of kills to give the visitors the momentum
• The two kills began a stretch in which the Jags captured six of the next eight points to gain some breathing room and take a 22-16 lead after ace by Cerny
• Following a Trojan point, Heffner and Gooch again posted back-to-back kills, and
Alivia Freeman sealed the 25-17 set win with a solo block
• Gooch, Dittmar and Heffner each had four kills, while as a team, South Alabama recorded five total blocks – two solo and six assists in the opening set
• The Jags also held the Trojans to a .059 hitting percentage in the frame
Set 2 – Troy 25, South Alabama 16
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KEY MOMENT: Tied 11-11, Kwiatkowski led a 7-0 run to give the Trojans the lead for good
• Axtell provided the early offense for the Trojans, recording four kills for Troy's first four points of the second set
• After Troy led by as much as three, South Alabama kept battling back and tied the set back up (10-10) after a kill by Blackwell and a Trojan attack error
• Two points later with the set still tied, Troy rattled off seven-straight points to take a 17-11 lead, three points coming off kills by Kwiatkowski
• After two quick Jaguar points, the Trojans pushed across four more points and took a 21-13 lead after a kill by Ruether
• Troy eventually took the set, 25-16, following a kill by Calvillo
• The Trojan offense was extremely efficient in the set, recording 17 kills, while committing just two errors for a .536 hitting percentage
• South Alabama did not record a block in the set
Set 3 – South Alabama 25, Troy 15
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KEY MOMENT: The Jaguars used an early 7-3 run to expand a one-point advantage to five, and never allowed their lead to get any fewer than four in the set
• Holding a one-point lead (4-3), South Alabama was able to grab momentum as it pushed across seven of the next 10 points to take a 11-6 lead after block assists by Heffner and Blackwell and an ace by Cerny
• With the Jags leading by four midway through the third set, South Alabama rattled off four unanswered, two points coming off block assists by
Alexa Strandberg, to double its lead (18-10)
• South Alabama later reeled off another 5-0 run as Blackwell had a pair of block assists, teaming with Cerny and Dittmar, and after a kill by Dittmar, Strandberg recorded an ace to grab a double-digit advantage (23-13)
• Dittmar later ended the set and put the Jags up 2-1 in the match with back-to-back kills, giving her six for the set
• The Jaguar defense posted 14 block assists in the set and held Troy to a .026 hitting percentage
Set 4 – Troy 25, South Alabama 20
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KEY MOMENT: South Alabama had fought back from an eight-point deficit to pull within two late in the set, but coming out of a time out, the Jags committed a serving error, igniting a 3-0 Trojan run
• Tied 2-2 early on in the fourth set, Troy used a 7-1 run to take a six-point advantage following an ace by Josephine Hensley
• Calvillo led the way during the Trojan run as she had a kill and back-to-back aces
• Troy looked to be in control holding an 18-10 lead, but Dittmar recorded back-to-back kills, giving the junior a new career high
• After Troy point, Blackwell took over for the Jags, recording five-straight points as she posted a pair of kills and teamed up with Heffner for three block assists to cut the Trojan lead to 19-17
• Coming out of a Trojan time out, the Jaguars committed a serving error, their fourth of the set, and after an ace by Kwiatkowski, Brooke Forkum gave Troy a 22-17 lead with a kill
• The Trojans went on to take the set (25-20) after an ace by Madison Marx – one of Troy's six in the fourth set – and even the match
• Dittmar and Blackwell led the way with four kills each, while Blackwell also had four block assists in the set
Set 5 – Troy 15, South Alabama 10
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KEY MOMENT: Tied 10-10, Troy ended the match on a 5-0 run
• South Alabama grabbed the first point of the fifth set, but Troy reeled off the next four to take a three-point lead
• The Trojans led by four (6-2) after Calvillo's fourth ace of the match, but South Alabama answered with three-straight points, two coming off blocks from Strandberg, one solo and an assist with Heffner
• After a kill by Kwiatkowski, the Jags pushed across three more points on kills by Gooch, Strandberg and Dittmar, to give South an 8-7 advantage
• Coming out of a time out, South Alabama committed another serving error and Sophie Ocampo then recorded a kill to help Troy retake the lead
• Tied 10-10, Ocampo posted a pair of kills and the Jags committed two attack errors to put the Trojans at match point
• Forkum then posted a kill to clinch the 15-10 win and give Troy the match
• In addition to the four serving errors in the set, South Alabama also had four attack errors on 22 attempts and just three kills for a -.045 hitting percentage
Post-Match Notes
• The meeting marked the 90th in the all-time series
• The 20 kills by Dittmar were a new career high, eclipsing her previous mark of 17 set earlier this season against Belmont
• Dittmar also recorded four or more kills in each of the first four sets, and now has done so 23 times this season and 37 times during her Jaguar career
• With her double-double, Cerny now has 13 on the year, moving her into a tie for 12th with former Jag Samia Salomao on South's single-season chart
• The 17 digs for Cerny were two shy of matching her career high in the category and marked her third straight match of 15 or more
• Blackwell now has three matches in her career with 11 or more blocks
• Blackwell has had three or more total blocks 15 of her 22 matches
• Gooch has recorded double-digit kills in five of her last eight, and eight or more digs in each of her last six
Up Next
• South Alabama will return home for a two-match SBC series with ULM. First serve of the series opener is set for Thursday at 6 p.m. at Jag Gym.
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