Appalachian State Sweeps Volleyball
10/12/2007 4:23:00 AM | Volleyball
STATESBORO, Ga. --- The Appalachian State volleyball team used a 16-5 run to finish off a 3-0 (30-28, 30-27, 30-15) sweep of Georgia Southern Friday night at Hanner Fieldhouse.
ASU wins their third straight to improve to 9-12 overall and 6-3 in the Southern Conference. GSU drops to 6-15 and 3-6.
“App State came in here and played a great match,” said Georgia Southern head coach Nicole McCray. “They won the serve-and-pass battle and I thought that was the difference in the match.”
The Mountaineers hit .321 as a team and had 15 blocks. Six of those came in game two.
ASU’s Carla Durham had 14 kills and no errors for a .667 hitting percentage. She also had nine blocks, three solo.
“If they serve aggressively and we are struggling at passing and only have one option, then that enables them to get two blockers on our outsides and that’s what they did, especially in the second game,” said McCray. “If you serve well, you’re going to be a better blocking team and that’s what they did tonight.”
A block by Durham and Lauren Swecker closed out a tight game one as the Apps rallied from a five-point (21-16) deficit. ASU led by as many as six in game two and never trailed while holding off several GSU comeback attempts.
Game three was all Appalachian State. The Mountaineers hit .417 as a team while holding the Eagles to -.156.
Freshmen Michelle Uzoh (San Antonio, Texas) and Sarah Gildersleeve (Naples, Fla.) led the Georgia Southern offense with nine and eight kills, respectively. Uzoh recorded a .412 attack percentage while Gildersleeve hit .467. Junior Christy Dowd (Indianapolis, Ind.) also had nine kills.
Durham and Brittany Zahn shared match-high honors with 14 kills. Lorelle Rau talled 39 assists and Heather Kale had 12 digs.
The Eagles take a day off before resuming play at home Sunday at 2 p.m. against Davidson.
