Eagle Volleyball Advances to SoCon Tourney Semifinal Round
11/17/2012 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
DAVIDSON, N.C. – Moriah Bellissimo tallied 16 kills, 11 digs and two blocks to lead Georgia Southern to a 3-1 (19-25, 25-21, 25-15, 25-16) volleyball victory over UNCG in the quarterfinal round of the Southern Conference volleyball tournament in Belk Arena Saturday afternoon.
The Eagles advance to Sunday's semifinal round, where they will meet Furman (23-9) at 2 p.m. in Belk Arena. The victory extends the Eagles' winning streak to 13 matches.
Meredith Paskert recorded 12 kills and 12 digs for Georgia Southern (25-6), and Nicole Jeschelnik posted 13 kills, 12 digs and three blocks. Kate Van Dyke collected 44 assists and 16 digs.
Karrian Chambers led UNCG (13-16) with 14 kills and 13 digs, and Olivia Humphries added 12 kills. Morgan Freeman finished with 10 kills and four blocks.
The Eagles had to shrug off a sluggish start after dropping the first set and trailing 7-1 early in the second frame. GSU scored five straight, with the help of two Paskert kills, to open a 13-12 lead. A 4-1 run, capped by a Chambers kill, made the score 19-16 in favor of the Spartans, but GSU rallied for five straight points, with two coming on Bellissimo kills.
Then with the scored tied 21-21, Bellissimo got a sideout with a kill and served out the set, adding another kill and an ace. Jeschelnik added two kills during the stretch as the Eagles tied the match 1-1.
GSU pushed a one-point lead into a 20-12 cushion with an 8-1 run in the third set, keyed by a pair of kills by Bellissimo. The Spartans scored two straight points, but GSU finished the set with a 5-1 run, with the aid of a kill and a block by Jeschelnik, to go ahead 2-1 in the match.
Leading 12-9 in the fourth set, the Eagles opened an eight-point cushion with a 6-1 run, capped by a Paskert kill. Crysten Curry added two blocks during the run, and the Spartans never got closer than seven points the rest of the way.
"Today was a tournament environment with every point highly contested," said Georgia Southern coach Chad Callihan. "I'm proud of our group for keeping their composure and fighting back to win the second set. From there, our defense steadily improved and allowed us to score a few big runs on our serve."
Notes: Bellissimo passed the 200-block mark for her career... GSU won both regular-season matches against Furman by 3-0 scores... The Eagles advance to the semifinals for the 10th time in program history... GSU has won 18 of its last 19 matches... The Eagles improve to 18-12 in the SoCon Tournament and 4-2 in SoCon Tourney games at Davidson.
Georgia Southern Athletics provides up-to-date information on all its sports through its official website, GSEagles.com, through social media channels facebook.com/GSAthletics and twitter.com/GSAthletics, and its new "Eagles GATA" mobile app for Android and iOS.
