University of South Alabama Athletics

AUBURN, Ala. | Cambria Gaier and Eva Dittmar each recorded 11 kills, while Dalayla Blackwell posted eight blocks to help South Alabama pick up a 3-0 (31-29, 25-22, 25-19) win over Samford Thursday afternoon at the Alabama Showdown, hosted by Auburn at Neville Arena.

Gaier also recorded 16 digs, two service aces and a pair of blocks for South Alabama (4-6) in the win, while Dittmar finished with a .391 hitting percentage.

Freshman setter Anabelle Cerny also recorded a double-double with 34 assists, 13 digs, while adding three block assists.

Samford (2-6) was led offensively by Hazel Slusher and Maggie Kalisz, who finished with 14 and 12 kills, respectively.

Quotable – head coach Jesse Ortiz
- On the straight-set win: "I'm really happy with our win today. I thought the girls played really well. It was our first straight-set win this season. I liked our determination and our focus. We're going to have to bring more of that tomorrow versus UAB."

How It Happened 
Set 1 – South Alabama 31, Samford 29
•    KEY MOMENT: Tied in extra points, Dittmar gave the Jags the lead for good and Gaier then sealed the win with her sixth kill of the set
•    Trailing by one (11-10) in the opening set, Gaier recorded five-straight points for the Jags, all on kills to give South the lead at the media time out, and eventually a three-point advantage (16-13) after a Bulldog attack error on the other side of the time out
•    Two points later with South Alabama leading by three, Samford pushed across four unanswered points of its own, two coming off kills by Kalisz, to retake the lead
•    With the Bulldogs leading 20-19, South took advantage of some errors and pushed across three-straight points to lead 22-20 after an attack error
•    Ally Cordes tied the set back up (22-22) two points later with her fourth kill of the set
•    Each team held set point multiple times in extra points, but tied 29-29 after a kill by Hazel, Dittmar gave South a one-point lead and Gaier followed with a kill of her own to seal the 31-29 win for the Jaguars 
•    Gaier led the Jags offensively with six kills and an ace, while Dittmar recorded four kills in the first set 
•    Kalisz and Slusher combined for 13 of Samford's 22 kills in the first set and each hit over .500

Set 2 – South Alabama 25, Samford 22
•    KEY MOMENT: Samford was able to pull within one late in the set, but Dittmar was credited with a kill after a Bulldog blocking error and Cerny dumped in a kill of her own for the final point to seal the three-point set win
•    Tied 2-2 early in second set, South took the lead for good as Gaier ignited a 5-1 Jaguar run with another kill
•    Blackwell then capped off the run with a block assist and a kill of her own to give South the five-point advantage
•    Later with South leading by seven (17-10) after a kill by Strandberg and a solo block by Gaier, Samford rattled off five of the next six points to pull within three (18-15) after a kill by Janie Stinchcomb
•    After two quick points by the Jags, Samford pushed across three-straight points to cut South's lead to 20-18 after a kill by Brianna Hamilton
•    Down the stretch, Dittmar and Blackwell came up big for South Alabama as the duo combined to record four-straight points 
•    Dittmar recorded a pair of kills, while Blackwell had a kill and teamed up with the Jag junior on a block
•    Cerny sealed the 25-22 set win with a kill when she caught the Bulldog defense not paying attention
•    Dittmar recorded five kills and hit .625 in the set, while Blackwell finished with four kills and a pair of blocks

Set 3 – South Alabama 25, Samford 19
•    KEY MOMENT: South Alabama used an 8-2 run early on in the set to take the lead for good, and never allowed the Bulldogs to get any closer than four the rest of the way
•    Tied (4-4) again early on in the third set, South Alabama reeled off eight of the next 10 points and took a 12-6 lead after kills by Strandberg and Alivia Freeman
•    Samford kept trying to rally back, cutting the Jag lead to as few as four on several occasions, the last coming at 23-19 following back-to-back kills by Slusher
•    Coming out of a time out though, Blackwell posted a solo block to put Jags at set point, and Gaier then finished it off with an ace for the 25-19 third-set win
•    The Jag defense held the Bulldogs to their lowest offensive output of the match at a .073 attack percentage
•    Blackwell was credited with four total blocks in the frame – one solo and three assists

Post-Match Notes
•    The meeting marked the 27th in the all-time series, and South Alabama now leads the series 15-12
•    The Jags have won four-straight – all at the Alabama Showdown – and five of the last seven series meetings
•    The 16 digs by Gaier marked a new career best for the sophomore outside hitter, eclipsing her previous mark of 14 set at Coastal Carolina (11/15/25)
•    The 60 (31-29) total points first set was the most points in a set since scoring 70 total points (36-34) in the fourth set versus Northwestern State (9/6/19)
•    With her fifth kill of the match in the second set, Blackwell eclipsed the 400-kill mark for her career 
•    The double-digit kill tally marked Dittmar's fourth of the season and the eighth of her career 
•    The double-double for Cerny marked her sixth of the season
•    The match also marked the fourth double-double of the season for Gaier and the seventh of her Jaguar career
•    The win marked No. 99 for South Alabama head coach Jesse Ortiz

Up Next
•    South Alabama will face UAB on Friday at Neville Arena. First serve versus the Blazers is set for 3 p.m.

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