HATTIESBURG, Miss. |
Sarah Gooch recorded her fourth double-double of the fall to help South Alabama pick up a 3-1 (26-24, 26-24, 23-25, 25-22) series opening win at Southern Miss Friday evening at Southern Miss Wellness Center.
Gooch led the Jags (12-13, 7-6 SBC) with 12 kills to go along with her 13 digs, two aces and five total blocks – one solo and three assists.
Dalayla Blackwell also finished in double digits with 10 kills and a match-high seven block assists.
Addison Hurst led the club with a career-high 22 digs and matched a career best with four aces in the win, while
Cambria Gaier also added seven kills and a career-high 19 digs.
Eva Dittmar (9) and
Alexa Strandberg (8) were also key in the win for the Jags as Strandberg also had four total blocks.
Southern Miss (15-9, 6-7 SBC) was led by Sadie McAda's 13 kills and 20 digs, while Sunni Sheppard had a match-high 27 digs in the loss.
Quotable – head coach Jesse Ortiz
- On the match: "Tonight was a pretty gritty fight. Southern Miss was trying to keep us up off the ground. Once we were able to get into a rhythm and hit more balls in and erroring less, I felt we kind of separated ourselves. I appreciated how we came out strong in the fourth set to take the lead, which helped us in finishing them off. I am proud of how hard our group fought and how focused they were today. Tomorrow's going to be a knock-down, drag-out type of match."
How It Happened
Set 1 – South Alabama 26, Southern Miss 24
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KEY MOMENT: Tied at 24, South Alabama was able to pick up the win after a USM serving error and a kill by Gaier
• Tied (3-3) early on in the opening set, Southern Miss pushed across four-straight points with the final two coming off kills by Emily Davis and McAda
• The Jaguars rallied back scoring six of the next seven points to take a 10-9 lead following a Golden Eagle attack error
• Strandberg had a pair of kills and Gaier added a kill and a solo block during the run
• South Alabama led by two (21-19) following a kill by Blackwell and then a block assist by the middle hitter, but Southern Miss battled back and tied the set back up at 22-22 following a Jag attack error
• On the ensuing point though, the Golden Eagles committed a serving error and
Elyse Heffner and Gooch teamed up on a block to put the Jaguars at set point (24-22)
• Following a USM time out, South committed a serving error – one of its six in the set – and Elly Stewart then tied things back up with a kill – the 13th tie of the opening frame
• Coming out of a time out though, Southern Miss committed an attack error and Gaier clinched the 26-24 set win with her third kill
Set 2 – South Alabama 26, Southern Miss 24
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KEY MOMENT: Southern Miss looked as if it were going to even up the match holding set point, but South Alabama rallied back with the final three points and took the set in extra points after a kill by Strandberg on an over pass
• South Alabama led 7-6 early on in the second set, but Southern Miss answered back with five unanswered points to take an 11-7 lead after back-to-back aces by Stewart and two kills by McAda
• Trailing by four, the Jaguars began to claw their way back and tied the set back up (14-14) after a kill by Gooch and a USM attack error
• Southern Miss answered back with the next three points, but South Alabama responded with a 4-0 run to retake the lead following a kill by Strandberg, her second of the scoring spurt
• South Alabama led by one (19-18) two points later, but the Golden Eagles pushed across three-straight to grab a two-point advantage following kills by McAda and Lillie Johnson and a Jaguar attack error
• USM led 22-20 after another kill by McAda, but Dittmar sparked a 3-0 Jaguar run with a kill and South took a one-point lead (23-22) following blocks by Blackwell and Gooch
• The Golden Eagles pushed across two points and held set point (24-23) after a kill by Aubrey Judd, but South again answered back as Blackwell slammed home a kill to tie the set and
Addison Hurst dropped in an ace to put the Jags at set point
• Strandberg then finished off the come back and gave South the 26-24 win in extra points to go up 2-0 in the match
• During South Alabama's come back early on in the set, the Jaguars were successful on two different challenges
• Hurst recorded nine of South's 23 digs in the set and had both aces in the frame
Set 3 – Southern Miss 25, South Alabama 23
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KEY MOMENT: South Alabama tied the set back up at 23-23, but committed its 12th serving error to put USM at set point before Judd sealed the win with a kill
• Coming out of the intermission, USM grabbed six of the first seven points with Diana Wells capping off the run with back-to-back kills, following two kills by Judd
• The Golden Eagles led by six (9-3) after a kill by McAda, but coming out of a time out, Strandberg sparked an 8-2 Jaguar run over the next 10 points and tied the set back up at 11-11 after an ace by
Anabelle Cerny
• Along with her kill, Strandberg also teamed up with Blackwell for a pair of blocks during the run
• USM quickly grabbed back the momentum as it answered with six of the next seven points to retake the lead (17-12) after a bad set by South Alabama
• Trailing by five, the Jaguars began to claw their way back, pulling within two (19-17) after a kill by Heffner, but Southern Miss pushed across four-straight points to extend its lead back out to six (23-17)
• Johnson had a pair of kills during the run and Stewart added a kill and an ace during the scoring spurt for the Golden Eagles
• South Alabama began to fight its way back as Norvell dumped in a kill and Blackwell and Strandberg teamed up on a block
• Blackwell and Strandberg then followed with kills and Gaier tied up the frame with a kill of her own
• South Alabama though committed a serving error and Judd then recorded her fourth kill of the set to clinch the 25-23 win for the Golden Eagles
Set 4 – South Alabama 25, Southern Miss 22
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KEY MOMENT: For the second set in the match, South Alabama won a pair of challenges which proved pivotal in the set win with the final one coming after it looked as if USM had narrowed the Jaguar lead to one late in the set, but upon reversal, sparking a key 3-1 run
• After dropping the previous set, South Alabama got off to a quick start in the fourth opening up with six unanswered points
• USM battled back and pulled within two (10-8) after a kill by Allie Hazelwood
• After South extended its lead back out to four, the Golden Eagles answered back with four unanswered points – three coming off kills by McAda – to tie the set up at 12-12
• Blackwell and Dittmar then teamed up on a block and Hurst dropped in her fourth ace of the match before Gooch posted the next two points with a solo block and then a kill coming out of the media time out to give South a four-point lead (16-12)
• Southern Miss responded right back though with four of next five points to pull within one (17-16) after a kill by Wells
• On the ensuing rally, Wells looked as if she had tied the set for the Golden Eagles as her attack was initially ruled in, but upon video review the call was changed to an attack error giving South an 18-16 lead
• South Alabama quickly extended its lead back out to four (20-16), but USM again battled back and looked as if it had pulled within one after Gaier's attack went long, but on South's fourth challenge of the match and second of the set, USM was ruled to have touched the ball at the net, awarding the Jags the point to give the visitors a 21-18 advantage
• South later held set point at 24-20 following a Golden Eagle serving error, but Southern Miss fought off a pair of opportunities before Dittmar sealed the win with a kill
• Gooch posted four kills and seven digs in the final set for the Jaguars
• The two clubs combined for a total of 57 digs in the fourth set: Southern Miss (32), South Alabama (25)
Post-Match Notes
• The meeting marked the 60th in the all-time series and the 27th in Hattiesburg
• The Jaguars improve to 39-21 in the series and have now won the last seven meetings
• Since USM joined the Sun Belt Conference, the Jags have won eight of the nine meetings and since 2012, have won 14 of the last 16 series meetings
• There were a total of 26 ties and 11 lead changes over the first two sets, but just three ties and no lead changes over the final two sets
• The double-double was the fourth of the season for Gooch and the fifth of her career
• Cerny also recorded her 15th double-double of the fall, tying her with Selena Chidester (2002) for seventh on the single-season list
• Hurst's four service aces matched a career high for the senior and for the second-straight match she set a new career best in digs with 22
• Hurst has recorded two or more service aces in eight of her last 13, and done so 11 times this fall
• The 19 digs by Gaier eclipsed her previous high of 16 set earlier this season versus Samford
• For the second match in a row, Norvell also recorded a new career best in assists with 20 to go along with her seven digs, also a new career mark
• With her seven block assists, Blackwell (236) moved into 10th place on the program's career list, surpassing Angela Gattis (234, 1999-02)
• Gooch has recorded a solo block in nine of her last 15 matches and has 16 this season
Up Next
• South Alabama will close out the series on Saturday with first serve set for 2 p.m.
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