South Alabama’s women’s volleyball team opened its 2025 season with a four-set loss to No. 20 Baylor at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The Jaguars took the first set but ultimately fell 3-1 (23-25, 25-18, 30-28, 25-17) on Friday afternoon.
Sarah Gooch led South Alabama offensively with 11 kills. Cambria Gaier and Eva Dittmar contributed nine kills each. Alexa Strandberg recorded seven block assists, while Sarah Gooch, Maradith O’Gorman, and Dalayla Blackwell each tallied six total blocks. Briana Wilson posted a match-high 25 digs.
Baylor saw three players reach double figures in kills: MJ McCurdy led with 12 and a .550 attack percentage; Grace Carroll added 11 kills with a .421 percentage; Manuela Bibinbe finished with 10 kills.
Head coach Jesse Ortiz commented on his team’s effort: “I really appreciated the effort from our team today. I thought they all worked really hard and we have definitely improved since last weekend. Baylor’s a really good team who is ranked in the Top 25, so kudos to them, but I’m really proud of our group and I like our progression and how we came out fighting. I expect us to keep improving and as time goes on, I look for us to continue growing as a squad. We’re not happy about the losses, but I am pleased with the performance and feel like there are better days ahead for us.”
In the opening set, South Alabama secured a win after breaking a tie at 23-23 by capitalizing on a Baylor serving error followed by a block from Gooch and Blackwell. Four Jaguars had two or more kills in that set, while Wilson recorded nearly half of her digs for the match.
The second set saw Baylor pull away after tying at 14-all; they went on runs that established control before evening the match following a kill by Victoria Davis.
Set three was closely contested with South Alabama holding leads late into extra points before Baylor finished strong behind key plays from Bibinbe and Carroll.
In the fourth set, Baylor built momentum midway through with an extended scoring run led by Kseniya Rakhmanchyk’s ace serve. McCurdy, Davis, and Bibinbe combined for most of Baylor’s points as they closed out the match.
This game marked only the third meeting between South Alabama and Baylor in program history—the first since their last matchup in 1991—and was also one of several games South Alabama has played against Big 12 opponents historically. The Jaguars will face another Big 12 school when they play Iowa State next week in Milwaukee.
Wilson surpassed career milestones during this match—her ninth time recording over twenty digs in her career—and continues an active streak dating back to last season of fifteen or more digs across nineteen straight matches. Dalayla Blackwell reached fifty career block assists during play.
South Alabama’s freshmen accounted for over half of their total kills against Baylor.
Next up for South Alabama is a Saturday night matchup against LSU scheduled for a 7 p.m. start.
For further coverage of South Alabama Volleyball follow @SouthAlabamaVB on Twitter or visit USAJaguars.com.
