Volleyball Splits Two Matches, Van Dyke Sets School Assist Record

Box score vs. Auburn (PDF) // Box score vs. Jacksonville State (PDF)

AUBURN, Ala. - Georgia Southern senior setter Kate Van Dyke broke the school's career assist record with 47 against Auburn, and the Eagles split a pair of matches at the Auburn Invitational Friday.

Georgia Southern topped Jacksonville State 3-0 (25-13, 25-15, 26-24) and fell 3-1 (23-25, 25-23, 25-19, 28-26) to Auburn.

Van Dyke surpassed the mark of 4,180 assists, previously held by Amanda Brooks, who played at Georgia Southern from 1998-2001.

Against Auburn, Van Dyke added 18 digs for the Eagles (3-2), while Nicole Jeschelnik led the squad with 12 kills to go along with 10 digs. Meredith Paskert had 11 kills, and Moriah Bellissimo posted 10 kills and 18 digs. Alexandra Beecher collected a match-high 22 digs.

Camila Jersonsky led the Tigers (4-0) with 12 kills, while Sarah Bullock, Chloe Rowand and Katherine Culwell each posted nine kills. Auburn had 11 team blocks and 75 digs in the match, holding Georgia Southern to a .148 hitting percentage.

Down 2-1 in the fourth and trying to force a fifth set, the Eagles took a 24-22 lead as Jeschelnik and Paskert put down consecutive kills. But Culwell and Jersonsky notched consecutive kills for the Tigers to even the score. With the score tied 26-26, Bullock notched two consecutive kills to end the match.

"We played a very gritty match against Auburn, and our defensive intensity was great," said Georgia Southern coach Chad Callihan. "Unfortunately, we struggled with our offensive execution. Credit Auburn for making the right plays at critical moments."

The Eagles battled back from an early 10-6 deficit in the first set, and with the score tied 23-23, Georgia Southern got two straight points on Auburn errors to go ahead 1-0 in the match.

The second set was back and forth, and trailing 20-19, Auburn scored the next three points to open a 22-20 lead. A Bellissimo kill trimmed the margin to 24-23, but Halle Kearney's kill ended the set to even the match.

The Tigers trailed just once in the third set and opened a 12-5 lead midway through the frame. The Eagles cut the margin to 15-13, but Auburn used a 7-2 run, capped by a MacKenzy Harper ace, to pull away.

Bellissimo notched 10 kills and eight digs to lead the Eagles against Jacksonville State (4-2), and Jamie DeRatt collected nine kills and 10 digs. Van Dyke finished with 34 assists and 12 digs to go along with six kills. Georgia Southern hit .342 in the match compared to .111 for the Gamecocks.

"I was really pleased to see our offensive execution improve from where it was in the first match," said Callihan. "The team was focused, alert and engaged right from the start. We set the tone early against a very feisty Jacksonville State team, and that allowed us to play more relaxed as the match progressed."

The Eagles did not trail in either of the first two sets and took a 2-0 lead in the match by winning the two frames by a combined 22 points. Georgia Southern battled back from an early 4-1 deficit to win the third set. Kills by Paskert and Bellissimo helped tie the score 4-4, and later in the set, the Eagles scored four straight points to open a 20-15 cushion.

Trailing 24-21, Jacksonville State scored three straight with the help of a Jen Meyer kill to tie the score 24-24. But DeRatt answered with a kill, and Jacksonville State committed an attack error to end the match.

Georgia Southern returns to action against High Point Saturday at noon to wrap up play in the Auburn Invitational.

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Category: Volleyball

Published on Friday, 31 August 2012 17:48