MOBILE, Ala. |
Elyse Heffner recorded a career-high 15 kills and a .312 hitting percentage to go along with five block assists, but Georgia Southern was able to outlast South Alabama and pick up a 3-1 win (25-19, 25-19, 20-25, 26-24) in the series finale Friday evening at Jaguar Gym.
Along with Heffner,
Cambria Gaier also had 15 kills and 18 digs for her sixth double-double of the season.
Dalayla Blackwell added 10 kills and led the club with seven block assists, and
Anabelle Cerny recorded her 18th double-double of the fall with 42 assists and 11 digs.
Addison Hurst led all players with a career-best 26 digs in the loss for South Alabama (12-16, 7-9 SBC).
Georgia Southern (21-7, 13-3 SBC) was paced by Reagan Barth's 14 kills and 16 digs, while Sam Bowron (12) and Beka Pfefferkorn (11) also finished the match in double digits.
Quotable – head coach Jesse Ortiz
- On consistency: "The one thing that we've said about our squad since the early part of the season is just about consistency and working towards that. We've become more consistent as the season has progressed, our setter location has gotten better, our attacking has gotten better, and our serve-receive has gotten better. Against the good teams like Georgia Southern, you have to be really consistent throughout the match. We started off a little shaky. I love the fact though that we worked ourselves back, and I love the fight that we showed and how we got it dialed in to be able to compete. Kudos to Georgia Southern for pulling out the last set. That very well could have been ours if we could have stayed consistent and not error as much."
How It Happened
Set 1 – Georgia Southern 25, South Alabama 19
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KEY MOMENT: Georgia Southern was able reel off four unanswered points early on in the opening set to take the lead for good and never allowed the Jags to get any closer than that margin the rest of the way
• Tied 7-7, Georgia Southern was the first team to gain any separation as the Eagles reeled off four-straight points and took an 11-7 lead after back-to-back kills by Amelia Robinson
• After trailing by as much as seven, South Alabama trimmed the deficit to four (21-17) following a kill by Heffner
• Barth though later sealed the 25-19 first-set win with her sixth kill of the frame
• The Eagles posted a .324 hitting percentage in the first set, while holding the Jags to a .143 percentage
Set 2 – Georgia Southern 25, South Alabama 19
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KEY MOMENT: Georgia Southern used a pair of 4-0 runs during the first half of the set to take the lead for good and hold momentum
• South Alabama got off to a much better start in the second set as Blackwell opened up the scoring with a kill, and Gaier then added an ace and a kill of her own, before
Sarah Gooch and Blackwell capped off the 4-0 run with a block
• The Eagles quickly tied the set back up and took the lead with five-unanswered points, capped off by an ace by Barth
• With the set again tied, Georgia Southern pushed across three-straight points after block assists by Lexi Duffy and Alex Myers, an ace from Mayte Camacho and a kill by Myers to give GS a three-point advantage
• The Jags cut the deficit to two (14-12) after kills by Gaier and Blackwell, but the Eagles again rattled off four-straight points to extend its lead back out to 18-12 following block assists by Pfefferkorn and Robinson
• Barth later sealed the 25-19 win for the Eagles with her nineth kill of the match and third of the set
• Gaier led the Jaguars offensively in the set with six kills on nine attacks for a .556 hitting percentage
Set 3 – South Alabama 25, Georgia Southern 20
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KEY MOMENT: With the Eagles trying to rally back, Gaier took over late recording four of her five kills in the set and a block
• South led by as much as two (7-5) early on in the third set, but over the next six points, Georgia Southern was able to rattle off a 5-1 run to retake the lead following a solo block by Pfefferkorn and a Jaguar attack error
• The Jaguars came right back with a run of their own as they captured seven of the next eight points to take a four-point lead (15-11) at the media time out after a solo block by Alexas Strandberg and a kill by Gooch
• Heffner also had three kills during the 7-1 South Alabama run
• With South holding a 17-14 advantage, Gaier scored the Jags' next three points with a pair of kills and a solo block to force an Eagle time out and give the Jags a 20-15 lead
• Georgia Southern pulled within three two points later, but Gaier again provided the spark for the Jags
• The Jaguars later picked up the 25-20 set win after an Eagle attack error
• Heffner (7) and Gaier (5) combined to record 12 of South's 17 kills in the frame
• Heffner posted a .778 hitting percentage in the third set
Set 4 – Georgia Southern 26, South Alabama 24
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KEY MOMENT: Tied in extra points, Bowron and Myers recorded the final two points for the Eagles to clinch the set and the match
• Georgia Southern opened up the fourth frame with the first three points, and grabbed nine of the first 12 and took a six-point advantage following an ace by Maddie Cugino and block assists by Myers and Pfefferkorn
• Coming out of a time out, South Alabama began to fight its way back as the duo of Heffner and Blackwell combined to record six of the club's next eight points as they had three kills and teamed up on three blocks
• Trailing 13-10, Heffner's kill ignited a 6-0 run for the Jags as Gooch added a pair of kills and Cerny recorded a kill and a block assist
• Georgia Southern narrowed the Jaguar lead to 18-17, but Blackwell and Heffner answered right back with a kill each and force an Eagle time out
• South led by three again (21-18) after kill by Gaier, but GS answered back with three unanswered points to tie the set back up after block assists by Barth and Kayla Knowles
• Tied a 24-24, Georgia Southern was able to pick up the final two points and take the set and clinch the match
Post-Match Notes
• The meeting marked the 24th in the all-time series and the 12th on the Jags' home floor
• With her seven block assists, Blackwell (304) eclipsed the 300-block mark for her career and moved passed former Jag Summer Pilgrim (302, 2003-06) for eighth on the career list
• Blackwell (110) also passed Morgan Stalcup (2023, 106) and Keturah Carger (108, 1989) to move into third place on the single-season block assists list
• Blackwell (132) also moved into sixth place on the single-season, total blocks list, passing Stalcup (129, 2022)
• Blackwell has had three or more total blocks 20 of her 28 matches this season
• Blackwell has had double-digit kills in nine of her last 13 (15 on the season)
• Blackwell has scored 12.0 points in 11 of her last 13 matches
• Cerny has had nine or more digs in 20 of her 28 matches this season
• Cerny has had a double-double in 10 of her last 12, and nine of her last 10
• Gaier has recorded double-digit kill totals in eight of her last 12, and 13 matches this fall
• With her 18th double-double of the season, Cerny tied Ninette Encalade (18, 1986-89) for 14th on career list
• Strandberg has had five or more kills in each of her last five and four or more blocks in six of her last seven matches
Up Next
• South Alabama will open up play at the Sun Belt Conference Championships and the bracket will be released on Saturday.
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