Defense Keys Volleyball's Sweep of The Citadel
11/7/2008 5:27:00 AM | Volleyball
STATESBORO, Ga. --- Georgia Southern held The Citadel to a -.061 hitting percentage and had nine blocks in a 3-0 (25-13, 25-11, 25-20) volleyball sweep Friday night at Hanner Fieldhouse.
The Eagles even their record at 15-15 overall and 8-7 in the Southern Conference while the Bulldogs drop to 8-21 and 1-14.
“It was a good effort tonight,” said GSU head coach Chad Callihan. “We came out really focused and set the tone early for the match. I thought we did a pretty good job of sustaining it. We caught The Citadel on their heels a little bit early then in the third game they played better but we did a good job of sustaining.”
The Citadel's attack percentage is the lowest by a SoCon opponent all season. The Bulldogs hit -.102 in the first two sets combined.
“I thought our defense was good,” said Callihan. “I attribute a lot of it to our serving. We really wanted to be aggressive and we did a good job of that. I was pleased to see we had a higher ace than error ratio and it earned us a lot of points and allowed us to get our defense set.”
On the other side of the net, the Eagles hit .393 over the first two sets. They never trailed in set two, jumping out to a 4-0 lead and ending it on an 11-1 run.
GSU's eight aces are also a season-high against a league team.
“I just think we were really focused,” said Callihan. “We spent a lot of time on working on transitioning off the net to be a little bit quicker to allow ourselves better attack position. Everything was crisp and I feel like when we're focused and playing with purpose we can do some pretty good things.”
Freshman Bethany Sanford (Avondale, Ariz.) led all players with eight kills and added two aces. Freshman Lauren Claybaugh (Danville, Calif.) and sophomore Sarah Gildersleeve (Naples, Fla.) each had seven kills. Claybaugh added two aces and two block assists while Gildersleeve totaled five blocks, including one solo.
Junior Cristin Haines (Palos Heights, Ill.) paced the defense with 18 digs.
Georgia Southern takes a day off before taking on SoCon South Division leader College of Charleston Sunday at 2 p.m.
The Eagles even their record at 15-15 overall and 8-7 in the Southern Conference while the Bulldogs drop to 8-21 and 1-14.
“It was a good effort tonight,” said GSU head coach Chad Callihan. “We came out really focused and set the tone early for the match. I thought we did a pretty good job of sustaining it. We caught The Citadel on their heels a little bit early then in the third game they played better but we did a good job of sustaining.”
The Citadel's attack percentage is the lowest by a SoCon opponent all season. The Bulldogs hit -.102 in the first two sets combined.
“I thought our defense was good,” said Callihan. “I attribute a lot of it to our serving. We really wanted to be aggressive and we did a good job of that. I was pleased to see we had a higher ace than error ratio and it earned us a lot of points and allowed us to get our defense set.”
On the other side of the net, the Eagles hit .393 over the first two sets. They never trailed in set two, jumping out to a 4-0 lead and ending it on an 11-1 run.
GSU's eight aces are also a season-high against a league team.
“I just think we were really focused,” said Callihan. “We spent a lot of time on working on transitioning off the net to be a little bit quicker to allow ourselves better attack position. Everything was crisp and I feel like when we're focused and playing with purpose we can do some pretty good things.”
Freshman Bethany Sanford (Avondale, Ariz.) led all players with eight kills and added two aces. Freshman Lauren Claybaugh (Danville, Calif.) and sophomore Sarah Gildersleeve (Naples, Fla.) each had seven kills. Claybaugh added two aces and two block assists while Gildersleeve totaled five blocks, including one solo.
Junior Cristin Haines (Palos Heights, Ill.) paced the defense with 18 digs.
Georgia Southern takes a day off before taking on SoCon South Division leader College of Charleston Sunday at 2 p.m.
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