Volleyball Wins Third Straight at Davidson
11/8/2011 2:01:00 AM | Volleyball
DAVIDSON, N.C. - Behind 18 kills from Bethany Sanford (Avondale, Ariz.) and 49 assists from Kate Van Dyke (Shawnee, Kan.) the Georgia Southern Volleyball team (17-13, 9-5) rolled to its third-straight victory Monday night at Davidson (15-12, 5-9). The Eagles swept the Wildcats 25-15, 25-15, 26-24 for the three sets to none match win.
GSU won its ninth Southern Conference win by hitting .323 and holding Davidson to a .153 mark. The Eagles hit .432 in the opening set to run away with a 25-15 first set win and won by the same score in the second set after hitting .289. The Eagles staved off the Wildcats 26-24 in the third set to complete the sweep.
Davidson's Caroline Brown posted nearly half of her team-best 11 kills in the third set, which featured three ties and three lead changes. Davidson posted their best hitting percentage of the night and held Georgia Southern to its lowest but three of their six errors in the set came in the final five points.
Sanford and Parker Small (Charlotte, N.C.), who both reached double-figures in kills, recorded points off sets from Van Dyke to force a 24-24 tie in the third set. A block by the two and an attack error by Caroline Brown sealed the win. Small added 11 kills to Sanford's 18 and was one of three Eagles with at least a .400 hitting percentage.
Van Dyke, who currently needs just 613 more assists to tie the school career record, helped the Eagles post their best hitting percentage in 10 matches with her best three-set assist performance since September 21, 2010. She was also active on the defensive end, posting 18 digs.
Moriah Bellisimo (Blackstone, Va.) recorded 20 or more digs for the third time in the last four contests, accounting for 30 percent of the team's highest three-set dig total of the season. Georgia Southern posted 88 digs, their third most on the year overall, behind 27 from Bellisimo, 18 from Van Dyke and 10 from Lauren LaRocque (Frisco, Texas).
The Georgia Southern Volleyball team travels to South Carolina in search of their 10th SoCon victory this weekend. The Eagles will face Furman and Wofford in the final regular season matches of the year. The match with the Terriers was moved to nearby Converse College and will start at 6 p.m.
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