Volleyball Drops 3-1 Setback at Furman

Friday, November 1

Greenville, S.C.

7 p.m.

Georgia Southern University

21-4, 9-2SoCon

Furman

12-10, 8-3SoCon

Georgia Southern

Furman

Alex Beecher had a match-high 24 digs.

Photo by: Dan Groover

11/1/2013 10:20:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

By: Marc Gignac

GREENVILLE, S.C. – Christina Dorismond hit .382 and pounded out 16 kills to lead Furman to a 3-1 (25-21, 25-15, 25-22, 25-21) Southern Conference volleyball victory over Georgia Southern Friday night in Alley Gym.

The Eagles (21-4, 9-2 SoCon) remain atop of the league standings, a game ahead of Furman (12-10, 8-3 SoCon), though the Paladins will own any tiebreakers going forward because they swept Georgia Southern this season.

Jamie DeRatt led the Eagles with 13 kills to go along with 10 digs, and Katie Bange collected 11 kills. Kym Coley finished with 10 kills and three blocks, while Alexandra Beecher recorded a match-high 24 digs.

Andrea Fisher contributed 13 kills and 10 digs for Furman, and Casey Wells finished with 10 kills. Jo Wilks added 46 assists, nine digs and two blocks.

Georgia Southern struggled to get into a rhythm offensively and hit under .200 in the three sets it lost. Furman hit .287 for the match, including a whopping .625, with 16 kills and one error, in the second set.

"Our passing broke down, and we had trouble finding our rhythm offensively," said Georgia Southern coach Dustin Wood. "Give Furman credit. They forced us into errors, but we had too many unforced errors. We are still in control of our destiny, and we will regroup and bounce back."

After the Paladins won the second set 25-15, Georgia Southern came back to win the third frame, which featured 17 ties and seven lead changes. Trailing 22-21, Coley got two kills and DeRatt added a third as the Eagles took a 24-22 lead. After a Furman timeout, Coley blocked an Ashton Gregory attack to give GSU the set.

The Eagles used that momentum to open a brief 4-1 lead in the fourth set, but Furman came roaring back, scoring six straight points on Wells' serve to take an 8-4 advantage. The Eagles tied the score on a Coley kill and took a 15-14 lead on a kill by Christina Vereb, but the Paladins responded with a 5-0 run behind the serve of Wells. Leading 22-21, Furman got a block from Fisher and Gregory followed by a kill from Gregory to make it set point, and an Eagle hitting error ended the match.

The Eagles continue their four-match road trip at Wofford Saturday at 2 p.m.

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 "Eagles GATA" mobile app for Android and iOS.