Volleyball Wins SoCon Opener at Davidson
9/24/2008 4:28:00 AM | Volleyball
DAVIDSON, N.C. --- Georgia Southern hit .414 as a team in the first set en route to a 3-0 (25-21, 26-24, 25-15) sweep of Davidson Wednesday at Belk Arena.
The match was the Southern Conference opener for both teams. GSU improves to 7-8 and 1-0 while Davidson falls to 4-9 and 0-1.
“I thought they came out with the best energy that we’ve played with this season,” said GSU head coach Chad Callihan. “I thought that was the key to our success. We’ve talked about setting the tone for the match and it took us a couple of points to get going but I really felt like the energy was there throughout.”
Senior Christy Dowd (Indianapolis, Ind.) posted eight kills and no errors for a .571 hitting percentage, part of the Eagles’ .330 effort as a team.
“It was a great job,” said Callihan. “I thought she played a very smart game, took a good swing when she had it, took a good shot when we needed it; just really played a good all-round game and I like the eight kills but I’m more proud that she was able to do it without making any errors. She was really focused on her job tonight and did a good job of making sure she minimized any mistakes and she ended up not making any.”
Georgia Southern used a late run to take set one and held off Davidson in set two to take a 2-0 lead. But the third set was all GSU as they raced out to leads of 6-1 and 11-3 and led by as many as 11 in the final frame.
“I think in that third game we came out with a lot of energy and we set the tone for that game early and when you’re a team that’s already down 2-0 and then we jump out four, five or six points, it’s hard to continue to battle,” said Callihan. “Getting that early lead put so much pressure on the opponent. It’s tough when you’re playing from behind all evening and that’s the position Davidson was put in.”
GSU freshman Bethany Sanford (Avondale, Ariz.) totaled a match-high tying 12 kills and junior Cristin Haines (Palos Heights, Ill.) led all players with 15 digs. Senior Mae Chabra (Mt. Pleasant, S.C.) dished out 34 assists and sophomore Michelle Uzoh (San Antonio, Texas) and freshmen Parker Small (Charlotte, N.C.) and Hannah Nelson (Norcross, Ga.) all had four blocks each.
Georgia Southern returns home for their league opener Saturday against Chattanooga at noon.
