Eagles Best Bucs, 3-1
9/17/2009 1:39:00 AM | Volleyball
CHARLESTON, S.C. - Despite dropping the first set, the Georgia Southern volleyball team came-from-behind to capture a 3-1 decision Wednesday night (September 16) over Charleston Southern. The Eagles improved to 7-4 on the season, while the Bucs dropped to 4-6 overall.
Hitting .197 from the floor, Georgia Southern posted 53 kills led by sophomore Bethany Sanford (Avondale, Ariz.) with 15. Hannah Nelson (Norcross, Ga.) and Parker Small (Charlotte, N.C.) followed closely behind with 10 each. Freshman Kate Van Dyke (Shawnee, Kan.) recorded 41 assists as senior libero Cristin Haines (Palos Heights, Ill.) put up 10 digs.
Charleston Southern was held to a .202 attack percentage on 43 kills. Amanda Hill led the effort with 13 kills; Hill posted a double-double adding 11 digs. Sam Sasan paced the Bucs with 32 assists and Tricia Rodl tallied 15 digs.
Georgia Southern captured the first point in set one, but would quickly fall to a 9-4 deficit to the Bucs. After a kill by sophomore Sanford put the score at 14-9 CSU, the Bucs put together a 6-0 run to hold an 11 point lead at 20-9. Consecutive kills by Eagles Sarah Gildersleeve (Naples, Fla.) and Van Dyke pushed the score to 20-11, but Charleston Southern closed out the opening set, 25-13, to take the early match lead.
The Eagles quickly rebounded and nabbed the second set, 25-16. After going down 3-1, Georgia Southern posted three points to take the lead, 4-3. The Bucs responded adding two, but the Eagles recorded seven unanswered to gain an 11-5 lead. Closing the gap to within four, 16-12 GSU, Sanford nailed a kill to make it a five-point game again as the Eagles went on a 3-1 run for a 20-13 lead. A pair of kills from Nelson and Lauren Claybaugh (Danville, Calif.) solidified the win for the Eagles at 25-16.
The two squads battled in the third set, as neither team held more than a three point lead to open the stanza. Tied at 13-all, a kill by Small gave Georgia Southern the one-point edge before CSU added three to earn the 16-14 advantage. Following an Eagle timeout, Georgia Southern responded with a 4-0 run to push the set to 18-16 Eagles favor. But the lead was short-lived as the Bucs tied the set at 21-all. A pair of Eagle kills helped put together a 5-1 Georgia Southern run to secure the third set, 25-23 for the Eagles.
CSU looked on track to take the fourth set, jumping out with an 8-3 lead. But a trio of kills by the Eagles on top of a Buc error closed the margin to 9-7 CSU. Three Sanford kills assisted with a kill by Small would tie the set at 13 apiece. Georgia Southern exploded and a 5-0 run gave the Eagles a 19-15 advantage. The Eagles continued to push and closed out the set at 25-22, securing with it the match.
Georgia Southern closes out its fall tournament schedule with the Wingate Inn Classic, September 18-19. The Eagles open tournament play against James Madison Friday at 11 a.m. in Rock Hill, S.C.
