University of South Alabama Athletics

MOBILE, Ala. | Dalayla Blackwell recorded a career-high 17 kills and posted a .625 hitting percentage as South Alabama captured a 3-2 (25-20, 25-15, 21-25, 23-25, 15-12) win over Kennesaw State Friday night at the South Alabama Invitational held at Jaguar Gym.

Cambria Gaier recorded her third double-double of the season with 14 kills and 10 digs, while also matching a career high in service aces with five. As a team, South Alabama (3-4) recorded a season-high 13 aces in the win.

Alexa Strandberg also finished the night with a career-best 12 kills and a .458 hitting percentage as she also added four block assists. Blackwell had five total blocks – two solo and three assists – while Sarah Gooch had two solo blocks to go along with her nine kills The Jaguars held a 12.0-7.0 advantage at the net in the category.

Freshman setter Anabelle Cerny dished out 54 assists and just missed out on a double-double as she had nine digs, while directing the Jaguar offense to a season-high .293 hitting percentage. Addison Hurst matched a career high with four aces and led all players with 17 digs.

Kennesaw State (5-2) was led offensively by Haley Patterson's 19 kills.

Quotable – head coach Jesse Ortiz
- On the match: "I thought there was a lot of tenacity from our group tonight, even in the sets we lost. We lost the third set hitting .263 and then the fourth hitting .455. Kudos to Kennesaw State, they were coming after us. I like the fight in my group and I'm very proud of them."

- On the performance of his two middle hitters, Dalayla Blackwell and Alexa Strandberg: "They were lights out. I'm not exactly sure what their numbers were in terms of kill percentages. I believe Dalayla was around 60 percent kill and Lexy was 50 percent. Those are some serious numbers. It was also great for Anabelle (Cerny) to be able to get those two open constantly, and that really put a lot of pressure on (Kennesaw State). We needed it tonight."

How It Happened 
Set 1 – South Alabama 25, Kennesaw State 20
•    KEY MOMENT: Kennesaw State looked as if they had pulled within a point after a kill was credited to Ava Garner, but the Jaguars challenged, which was reversed to give South a three-point advantage  
•    South led 7-5, but South pushed across three-straight points to extend lead to five after kills by Gooch and Blackwell, and an ace by Cerny
•    KSU cut deficit to one (12-11) after back-to-back kills by Patterson, but South Alabama again pushed its advantage out to three after kills by Gaier and an ace by Marissa Taix
•    The Owls then pushed across four unanswered points to take the 15-14 lead at the media time out after a pair of Jaguar errors and two kills by Ashlyn Anderson
•    Tied 16-16, Strandberg slammed home a kill – one of her five in the set – and Gaier posted one of her own from behind eight-foot line to begin a 4-0 Jaguar run
•    After an attack error from the visitors and a kill by Blackwell kill, South Alabama led 20-16
•    KSU was able to get as close as two the rest of the way, but South Alabama picked up the final three points and took the set, 25-20 after block assists by Strandberg and Eva Dittmar
•    Blackwell posted six kills in the opening frame and a .600 hitting percentage, while the Jags had four aces as a team

Set 2 – South Alabama 25, Kennesaw State 15
•    KEY MOMENT: Blackwell, Gaier and Dittmar scored nine-straight points for the Jaguars midway through the set to break things open
•    Holding a 12-10 lead in the second set, South Alabama gained some breathing room with five-straight points as Blackwell had a pair of blocks, including a solo, and a kill during the run
•    Blackwell (a kill and two blocks), Gaier (a kill and a solo block) and Dittmar (two kills and a block assist) combined to score nine-straight points for South Alabama at one point during the set
•    Holding a 18-13, Dittmar ignited a 7-2 Jaguar run to close the set with a kill, one of her three in the set
•    For the second-straight set, South Alabama had four aces, two each from Hurst and Gaier
•    As a team, the Jags posted a .455 attack percentage, committing just two errors, while also posting two solo blocks and eight block assists in the frame and holding the Owls to a -.040 hitting percentage

Set 3 – Kennesaw State 25, South Alabama 21
•    KEY MOMENT: South Alabama was able to cut the deficit to one (20-19) late in the set, but Burrage recorded three-straight points for the Owls 
•    Kennesaw State opened the third set on a 6-2 run and led by seven at the media time out (15-8) after a kill by Olivia Burrage
•    Trailing by five, South Alabama began to chip away, scoring six of the next nine points
•    Gooch began the Jag run with back-to-back kills, and Blackwell followed with a solo block to pull within two (18-16)
•    KSU stretched its lead back out to 20-16, but the Jags rattled off the next three points and pulled within a point after kills by Blackwell and Gaier 
•    The Owls answered back with four unanswered of their own, three coming off a block and a pair of kills by Burrage
•    Blackwell and Gaier again recorded kills, but KSU was able to take the set (25-21) after a Jaguar serve went long

Set 4 – Kennesaw State 25, South Alabama 23
•    KEY MOMENT: South Alabama was able to fight off one set point, but coming out of a time out, the Owls were able to take the set after a Jaguar serving error
•    KSU led 13-11, but after a kill by Cerny and back-to-back aces by Gaier, South Alabama claimed a 14-13 lead
•    Patterson put the Owls back out in front two points later after a kill and an ace at the media (15-14)
•    Kennesaw State later extended its lead back out to three, but South Alabama pulled withing one (22-21) after kills by Gaier and Dittmar
•    The Jags were able to get as close as one two other times in the frame, the last coming at 24-23 after a kill by Gooch, but Kennesaw State evened the match on the next point as the Jags committed their fifth serving error of the frame
•    Patterson recorded seven of the Owls' 14 kills in the set while they hit .393

Set 5 – South Alabama 15, Kennesaw State 12
•    KEY MOMENT: Kennesaw State cut the deficit to one (12-11), but Gooch slammed home a kill and then dropped in an ace to extend the Jaguar lead to three
•    Tied (7-7) midway through the fifth and final set, Gooch gave South a two-point advantage with a kill and solo block
•    With the Owls holding a 10-9 advantage, Blackwell slammed home a kill and then after a KSU attack error, teamed up with Dittmar for a block to cap off a 3-0 scoring spurt
•    Gooch later put the Jags at match point after a kill and ace, (14-11), and after a KSU point, Blackwell sealed the win with her 17th kill of the night 
•    Gooch came up big for the Jags in the final frame as she had a pair of kills, an ace and a solo block

Post-Match Notes
•    The meeting marked the fifth in the all-time series and first since the 2022 season
•    The match marked the first in the series to go more than three sets
•    Through the first two sets, South Alabama's middles – Blackwell and Strandberg – combined for 14 kills and didn't commit an attack error in any of their 20 offensive attempts
•    The duo finished the match a combined 29 kills, 48 attacks and just three errors in the five et
•    Taix's 11 digs marked her third double-digit dig tally this fall
•    With her five blocks, Blackwell eclipsed the 200-total block mark for her career as she now has 203
•    Gooch (606) also reached 600-kill milestone for her collegiate career 
•    The 13 service aces by the Jags tied for eighth-most in a match and were the most since recording 15 versus ULM (9/30/22)

Up Next
•    South Alabama will continue play at the South Alabama Invitational when it faces Georgia on Saturday at 6 p.m.

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