MOBILE, Ala. | South Alabama came out on fire and was able to take the first set from the East Division champs, but Georgia Southern rallied back with the next three to pick up a 3-1 (15-25, 25-16, 25-22, 25-20) win in the series opener Thursday evening at Jaguar Gym.
South Alabama (12-15, 7-8 SBC) was led offensively by
Sarah Gooch's 11 kills, while she also added 13 digs for her fifth double-double of the season to go along with her pair of aces.
Cambria Gaier was solid as she had eight kills of her own, matched a career high with five aces, and set new career best in digs (24) and total blocks (5) as she had two solo blocks and three block assists.
Dalayla Blackwell added eight kills of her own and five block assists, while
Anabelle Cerny posted her 17 double-double of the fall with 33 assists and 19 digs.
Georgia Southern (20-7, 12-4 SBC) was led by the duo of Sam Bowron and Raegan Barth, who each had 13 kills apiece. Barth also added five aces, 10 digs and a pair of block assists for the Eagles in the win.
Quotable – head coach Jesse Ortiz
- On the match: "I thought there was a lot of good volleyball going on tonight between the two teams. Georgia Southern is the East side champs and they spread the ball around very well. It takes a full team effort to slow down their offense. I loved how we came out of the gate. I thought we were extremely aggressive and amazing in our serve-receive in the first set. Barth was really great in the second set for them.
"What you saw tonight was two defensive squads that really got after each other. They edged us out today, we just have to be a little cleaner tomorrow. We're ready for another dogfight."
How It Happened
Set 1 – South Alabama 25, Georgia Southern 15
•
KEY MOMENT: Leading by one, South Alabama broke the set open with a 11-2 run early on in the first set and never looked back
• South Alabama grabbed the lead from the outset, scoring the first three points of the match
• Leading by one (5-4), the Jaguars reeled off six unanswered points, as
Alexa Strandberg ignited the scoring with a kill and Gooch capped off the run and put the Jags up 11-4 with a kill
• Following an Eagle point, South Alabama pushed across five of the next six points to extend its lead out to double figures (16-6) after a kill by Gaier and a pair of GS attack errors
• Strandberg again got the scoring going in the Jaguar run with a kill and then a block assists with
Anabelle Cerny
• South Alabama later extended its lead out to 12 (21-9) after back-to-back aces by Gaier – who had three in the set
• Gooch sealed the 25-15 first-set win with her fifth kill of the match as she softly got an attack to go over the net
Set 2 – Georgia Southern 25, South Alabama 16
•
KEY MOMENT: Barth sparked a 6-0 Eagle run with back-to-back-to-back service aces to break things open
• The Jags took the first point of the second frame, but the Eagles rattled off seven of the next eight to grab their first lead of the match
• Bowron capped off the GS run and put the visitors up 7-2 after a pair of block assists
• Holding a 13-7 advantage, Barth led a string of six-unanswered points which was highlighted by three-straight service aces, to double the Eagle lead to 12 (19-7)
• Barth recorded four of Georgia Southern's five aces during the set
• Jaguars tried to rally back as they pushed across eight of the next nine points to trim the Eagle lead to five (20-15) following a pair of blocks, the last coming of a solo rejection by
Eva Dittmar
• Coming out of a time out though, GS regained momentum and closed the set on a 5-1 run to take the set, 25-16
• In addition to the service aces, Georgia Southern had six block assists in the set and held the Jaguars to a -.062 hitting percentage
Set 3 – Georgia Southern 25, South Alabama 22
•
KEY MOMENT: After South Alabama had pulled within a point late, Barth ended the Jaguar rally with a kill before an attack error gave the Eagles the set win
• For the second-straight set, Georgia Southern used an early run, this one a 5-0 spurt, to take the early lead 6-2 following a kill by Beka Pfefferkorn
• Trailing by four (8-4), South turned to its defense to spark a rally as Cerny and Strandberg teamed up on a block and Gaier then added a solo block to ignite a 6-2 spurt for the Jags
• Following another block by Gaier and Blackwell, Gooch slammed home a kill to tie the set back up (10-10)
• GS answered back with the next two points, but South Alabama answered right back, taking five of the next six points and grab a 15-13 lead at the media time out following kills by Gaier and Gooch
• With the set tied, Gooch took over as she scored three-straight points for the Jags off a kill and then back-to-back aces and give South an 18-15 advantage
• Coming out of a time out though, the Eagles answered back with seven-straight points, three coming off of Barth as she had a kill and a pair of blocks
• South Alabama rallied back on the strength of a 4-1 run as Blackwell pulled the Jags within a point (23-22) with a kill and a block assist for the final two points
• Georgia Southern though picked up the final two points of the set though following a kill by Barth – her sixth of the set – and a Jaguar attack error
Set 4 – Georgia Southern 25, South Alabama 20
•
KEY MOMENT: With the set tied 15-15 midway through the final set, Georgia Southern was able to capture six of the seven points to take the lead for good
• South Alabama opened the fourth set by taking five of the first seven points, which was bookended by a pair of Jaguar blocks
• Two points later, Georgia Southern answered back with six of the next seven points to take a 9-7 lead after another kill by Barth
• The South Alabama defense at the net though came up big on the next two points as Gaier posted a solo block and then teamed up with
Elyse Heffner and Blackwell for another to tie it back up (9-9)
• Tied 15-15, Georgia Southern rattled off a 6-1 run that was highlighted by an Alex Myers block and a kill, extending the Eagle advantage to 21-16
• South Alabama tried to rally back, twice pulling within three, but GS was able to capture the final two points
• Bowron clinched the 25-20 set win with a kill, one of her five in the frame
Post-Match Notes
• The meeting marked the 23rd meeting in the series and the 11th in Mobile
• Thursday's match marked the first regular-season meeting between the two clubs since 2021
• With her five block assists, Blackwell now has 297 total blocks for her career, moving into a tie with Nikki Gittens (297, 2012-16) for ninth
• The five block assists for Blackwell (103) also moved her passed Niki Capizzi (99, 2023), Gittens (99, 2015), Olivia Mohler (100, 2012) and Lindsay Schwartz (2008, 100), and into a tie for fifth with Schwartz (103, 2009) on the single-season list
• Blackwell (125) also passed Capizzi (123, 2023) and Kelley Hartman (124, 2017) for seventh on the single-season total blocks list
• The five service aces mark the fourth time in her career and the third time this season Gaier has reached the mark in the category this season
• Gaier also reached the 600-kill mark for her career in the match
• Cerny has had a double-double in nine of her last 11, and eight of her last nine
• Gooch has recorded eight or more digs in nine of her last 11
• Strandberg has had five or more kills in each of her last four and four or more blocks in five of her last six matches
Up Next
• South Alabama will close out the series and regular season on Friday with first serve versus the Eagles set for 6 p.m.
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.
