Volleyball Opens Title Defense Against App State
11/18/2011 1:57:00 PM | Volleyball
STATESBORO, Ga. - The Georgia Southern Volleyball team opens their 2010 Southern Conference Title defense against the Appalachian State Mountaineers Saturday at 11 a.m. The three-day 2011 SoCon tournament takes place on the campus of Samford and runs through Monday.
Winners of four of their last five games, Georgia Southern (18-14, 10-6) has been playing some of the best ball since embarking on a four-game road trip to end the regular season. Their only loss came against Furman, a highly contested match that saw 37 ties and 16 lead changes. The Eagles won the regular-season finale over Wofford 3-0.
Junior Kate Van Dyke (Shawnee, Kan.) and senior Bethany Sanford (Avondale, Ariz.) were named to the SoCon's All-Conference teams on Wednesday. Van Dyke was a first team selection recording 1,259 assists as the primary setter for the Eagles. Sanford, who posted 358 kills and a 2.57 digs per set average, was named to the conference's second team.
Appalachian State (20-10, 12-4), winners of 15 of their last 19 matches, finished the regular season with a 3-2 win over Samford. Junior libero Courtney Rhein, who ranks fifth all-time at the school with 1,250 digs, leads the Southern Conference with a 4.92 digs per set average.
The Mountaineers defeated Georgia Southern 3-1 earlier this year in the only meeting between the two teams. The game was the Eagles' first contest back in the main gym of Hanner Fieldhouse. Three players recorded 10 or more kills for GSU but fell by two points in all three sets that they lost. The loss snapped a nine-game home winning streak for Georgia Southern.
The winner of Saturday's match will face either Elon or College of Charleston in the semifinal round of the tournament at 3 p.m. on Sunday.
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