UNC Greensboro Rallies to Edge Volleyball
9/15/2007 4:12:00 AM | Volleyball
STATESBORO, Ga. --- The UNC Greensboro volleyball team rallied from a 2-1 deficit to narrowly defeat Georgia Southern 3-2 (27-30, 30-14, 23-30, 30-15, 15-13) Saturday afternoon at Hanner Fieldhouse.
It was the Southern Conference opener for both teams. UNCG improves to 7-7, 1-0 while GSU drops to 3-10, 0-1.
“Today was a tough loss,” said GSU head coach Nicole McCray. “We fight so hard at times then other times we're ready to go to the next game. UNCG is a great team and they made the plays at the end of the game, which was the difference.”
While Georgia Southern took games one and three, games two and four were all UNC Greensboro. GSU hit -.214 in game two with 14 errors and just five kills. The Spartans hit .447 as a team in game four.
“It's difficult when we don't pass,” McCray added. “In games two and four we did not pass the ball well which enabled them to run points. If we can take care of the pass we'll be a much better team.”
The final frame started with a 4-1 Georgia Southern run, capped off by a kill from freshman Michelle Uzoh (San Antonio, Texas). UNC Greensboro came back with four straight points to take the lead and broke a 10-10 tie with three consecutive kills. UNCG errors on the next two points brought GSU to within one, but Katherine Hart closed out the match with her 13th kill.
The Spartans held a decided .244-.106 edge in hitting percentage overall.
UNCG's Kaitlyn Nortz totaled a match-high 19 kills and Emily Lindborg and Branagan Fuller had 17 each. Lisa Fawell dished out 68 assists and Catherine Hanners recorded 26 digs.
For Georgia Southern, Uzoh tallied 14 kills, a .364 attack percentage and five blocks. Junior Mae Chabra (Mt. Pleasant, S.C.) had 44 assists and 11 digs, and senior Bailey Coleman (Mt. Pleasant, S.C.) added 15 digs.
The Eagles return to action Tuesday with a SoCon match at Elon. It is set to start at 7 p.m.
