Thursday, September 1
Georgia Southern Opens Home Slate with Two Wins
STATESBORO, Ga. – Katie Bange tallied a triple-double with 15 kills, 18 assists and 10 digs to lead Georgia Southern to a 3-1 (25-16, 25-16, 19-25, 25-22) volleyball victory over Charleston Southern in the final match of the day at the Bash in the Boro in Hanner Fieldhouse Thursday.
The Eagles (2-3) topped Jacksonville State 3-0 (25-10, 25-16, 27-25) earlier in the afternoon behind seven kills, five service aces and three blocks from Lauren Reichard. Cathrine Murray tallied 23 kills on the day to go over the 500 mark for her career.
Georgia Southern held both of their opponents under the .100 mark in hitting percentage while combining to hit .269 in the two matches.
The story vs. Charleston Southern
Leading the match 2-1, the Eagles used a 5-2 run, keyed by three Murray kills, to take control of the fourth set. Georgia Southern pushed the margin to 24-17, but Charleston Southern would not go quietly and ran off five straight points to trim the margin to 24-22. Bange answered by putting the finishing touches on the match with a kill off a Kendra Koetter assist.
The Eagles led by as many as 10 points in the first set and 13 in the second frame while cruising to a 2-0 lead in the match. Charleston Southern ratcheted up its serving in the third set and posted five aces. After an Anna Wenger kill brought the Eagles within one point at 19-18, the Buccaneers ran off five straight points behind the serve of Hannah Western and took the set 25-19.
Murray led the team with a match-high 16 kills to go along with 13 digs, and Koetter finished with 33 assists and nine digs. Reichard posted 13 kills and four blocks and hit .667 for the match, and Alex Beecher collected 18 digs.
The story vs. Jacksonville State
The Eagles were stout defensively and on their serve as Jacksonville State hit just .082 for the match and posted a negative percentage in the first two sets. Down 23-20 in the third set, Georgia Southern rallied to tie the score 24-24 on a kill by Reichard. Charis Ludtke got a kill for the Gamecocks, but Bange answered with a kill for the Eagles. Reichard served up an ace to make it match point, and Murray ended it with a kill.
After the Eagles ran away with the first set, Reichard served for six straight points in the second set, sparking a 7-0 Georgia Southern run. Bange posted a team-high nine kills, 14 assists and three blocks, while Stephanie Spencer and Murray each recorded seven kills.
Quotable from head coach Dustin Wood
"First of all, it's nice to be home, and we got a total team effort today. We played two ranked teams in a tough environment last week, and they exposed our weaknesses. We worked on those things this week, and we did a nice job of making those changes today."
"We picked up a lot of balls tonight - I think we had five or six kids close to double-digit digs. That creates opportunities, and we were able to put the ball away tonight."
Next Up
The Bash in the Boro continues tomorrow with five matches in Hanner Fieldhouse. The Eagles will take on Savannah State at 1 p.m. and cap the tournament with a 7 p.m. contest against The Citadel.
Little Rock Falls in Home Opener to Oklahoma
LITTLE ROCK – After winning a close third set to keep their hopes alive, Little Rock volleyball (0-4) fell 3-1 (18-25, 14-25, 30-28, 17-25) to Oklahoma (4-0) in the opening match of the Little Rock Invitational on Thursday night at the Jack Stephens Center.
Veronica Marin led the Trojan offense as she put up a career-high 13 kills.
Tied 10-10 in the first set, Oklahoma went on a 12-4 run to take a 22-14 lead. The Trojans cut the Sooner lead to four at 22-18 with four straight points before Oklahoma scored three consecutive points to win the set.
The Sooners led the entirety of the second set and eventually took the win with a double-digit margin of victory at 25-14.
The third set was the most highly contested frame of the night as the set went into extra points. With the Trojans taking the first set point at 24-23, Oklahoma evened it up with a kill by Alyssa Enneking. A kill by Marin gave Little Rock set point again at 25-24, but Oklahoma answered once more with a kill by Madison Ward. The Sooners gained their first match point at 26-25 on an ace by Rachel Manriquez, but Taylor Lindberg declined Oklahoma the match with a kill. With match point once again at 28-27, Marina Avram denied Oklahoma the win with a kill. Tied 28-28, the Trojans finished off the Sooners with two straight points on a block by Carolee Dillard and an ace by Marina Avram.
However, the Sooners weren't about to lay down as they got out to a nine-point lead at 20-11 in the fourth set. Little Rock was able to cut Oklahoma's lead to seven at 24-17, but a final kill by the Sooners' Kimmy Gardiner put the match away.
Edina Selimovic led the match with six total blocks (one solo and five assisted) and picked up eight kills with a team-high .312 hitting percentage. Marina Avram had nine kills for the Trojans with two service aces. Taylor Lindberg led the team with 22 assists and picked up four total blocks, tying her career high. Sydnee Martin led Little Rock with 18 digs and tallied two aces. Carolee Dillard led the match with three solo blocks and had a total of four.
Little Rock outblocked Oklahoma 13-12.5 at the net. The Trojans have won the block battle in all four matches this season.
The Trojans return to action on Friday with a noon match against UAPB and a 6 p.m., match against Mississippi State at the Jack Stephens Center.