Volleyball Falls in Return to Hanner Fieldhouse
10/9/2011 2:30:00 AM | Volleyball
STATESBORO, Ga. - The Georgia Southern Volleyball team (11-10, 3-2) fell 3-1 to Appalachian State (12-7, 4-1) in the first game back in the main Hanner Fieldhouse gym. The loss snapped a nine-game home winning streak which stretched back to August 26th.
The Eagles had three players record 10 kills and hit .253 as a team but could not get over the hump, falling 26-24, 25-23, 17-25, 25-23 to the Mountaineers. GSU fought hard pulling to within one point in all three sets they lost. The Eagles hit .321 in the third set but were held below .300 in the other three sets.
Bethany Sanford (Avondale, Ariz.), Parker Small (Charlotte, N.C.) and Meredith Paskert (Brecksville, Ohio) all tallied 10 kills to lead Georgia Southern offensively. Kate Van Dyke (Shawnee, Kan.) ran the offense with 47 assists and added nine digs on the defensive end.
Anna Wagner recorded a game-high 15 kills for Appalachian State, while Alison Blasingame tallied 13 kills. The Mountaineers out-hit GSU with a .266 attack percentage. The Eagle defense held them to just a .028 mark in the third set, but Appalachian State rebounded with their best hitting percentage of the match, .395, to win the fourth set.
The Georgia Southern defense tallied 70 digs and was led by Lauren LaRocque (Frisco, Texas), who posted 18 digs. Moriah Bellissimo (Blackstone, Va.) was second on the team with 16 digs, while Sanford added 10 digs.
Following the Eagles third set win, Appalachian State broke up a back and forth game to lead 10-7 after a GSU attack error. Following a Georgia Southern timeout the Eagles responded, pulling to within one point, 12-13. GSU tied the contest at 17 all on a service ace from Sanford. The set remained tied 21-21 before back-to-back kills by Kelly Rhein and Blasingame put the Mountaineers on top 23-21. Hannah Nelson (Norcross, Ga.) pulled the Eagles within a point with a pair of kills in the waning plays but a service error would end the match and the set at 25-23.
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