Volleyball Unable to Finish Rally in 3-2 Loss to UNCG
10/16/2011 2:20:00 AM | Volleyball
STATESBORO, Ga. - The Georgia Southern Volleyball team (12-11, 4-3) rallied from an 0-2 start to tie the match at 2-2 but fell 3-2 to UNC Greensboro (12-12, 4-4) in the first of two matches in North Carolina this weekend. The Eagles led 11-9 in the fifth set but could not complete the rally falling 16-14 on a pair of errors. The Spartans won the two hour and seven minute match 25-17, 25-18, 15-25, 19-25, 16-14 on Saturday night.
Bethany Sanford (Avondale, Ariz.) posted a match-high 19 kills to lead the Eagles offensive attack. The team hit .263 as a squad and posted a better than .400 hitting percentage in both the third and fourth sets, but Georgia Southern was held to a .080 mark in the final fifth set.
Parker Small (Charlotte, N.C.) posted her eighth double-digit kill match of the season with 11 kills and tallied a .500 attack percentage. Meredith Paskert (Brecksville, Ohio) added a solid nine kills to the GSU tally. Kate Van Dyke (Shawnee, Kan.) recorded 46 of the team's 53 assists and tied for the team lead with 15 digs on the defensive end.
Georgia Southern's defense rebounded from a UNCG .455 hitting percentage in the first set to hold the Spartans under .300 for the rest of the match. The Eagles held UNCG to a .219 mark and allowed percentages of just .032, .100 and .200 in three of the five sets. Moriah Bellissimo (Blackstone, Va.) tied Van Dyke with 15 digs, while Sanford was third on the squad with nine.
Three Spartans recorded 10 or more kills including Karrian Chambers who recorded 15 kills. Morgan Freeman added 13 kills and Ariel Newman tacked on 12 kills but posted 12 attack errors for a zero hitting percentage.
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