MOBILE, Ala. | South Alabama volleyball will welcome West Florida on Friday night for the first of two exhibition matches this month before opening the 2026 season. First serve versus the Argonauts is set for 6 p.m. at Jaguar Gym.

The Jaguars are coming off a 15-14 overall record and a 9-7 mark in Sun Belt Conference play a year ago.

Highlighting the list of returnees for South Alabama this fall are all-conference performers Cambria Gaier and Sarah Gooch. Gaier, who was also named the SBC Freshman of the Year last season, earned first-team all-league honors after averaging 3.50 kills and 4.11 points per set, ranking seventh and fifth, respectively, in the league. Her 0.38 aces per set were fifth most in the Sun Belt.

Gooch, a second-team all-SBC selection, posted career numbers with 3.33 kills per set, 3.83 points per set, a .289 hitting percentage, 1.19 digs per set and 43 total blocks – 22 solo and 21 block assists during the 2025 season.

Also among the list of returnees for the Jags are starting middle blockers Dalayla Blackwell and Alexa Strandberg, and outside hitter Eva Dittmar.

South Alabama also welcomes five newcomers to the roster for the 2026 season – Anabelle Cerny (Saint Joseph's Catholic Academy), Alivia Freeman (Enterprise State CC), Delaney Lawson (Utah State), Charlotte Pearce (Saraland HS) and Kathryn O'Toole (Assumption HS) – as well as a pair of players who were on the roster a year ago, but did not see time on the court – Marisa Taix and Halle Norvell.

West Florida is coming off a 28-6 overall record and an 18-2 mark in conference action where it advanced to the semifinals of the NCAA DII South Regional, the program's 19th-straight tournament appearance. The Argos earned the bid after capturing their ninth-straight Gulf South Conference championship

UWF is led by a pair of players who earned AVCA All-American honors at the conclusion of last season in Gabi Moulton (Second Team) and Maddie Mire (Honorable Mention).

Directing the West Florida offense, Moulton recorded 1,327 assists, 177 kills on a .316 hitting percentage, 20 aces, 374 digs, and 61 blocks. Multon also swept the GSC's major awards earning Player of the Year and Setter of the Year honors, while also being selected as the GSC tournament's Most Outstanding Player. 

Mire – the reigning GSC Libero of the Year – broke UWF's single-season digs record with 643 digs during the 2025 season.

Following the match with the Argonauts, South Alabama will hold its annual Red vs. Blue Scrimmage on Friday, Aug. 21 at 6 p.m., before officially opening the season with the Jaguar Classic on Aug. 28-30. 

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