STATESBORO, Ga. – Kym Coley recorded 10 kills, and Georgia Southern held Appalachian State to an .090 hitting percentage for the match to earn a 3-0 (25-20, 25-17, 25-16) Southern Conference volleyball victory over the Mountaineers Saturday afternoon in Hanner Fieldhouse.
The win gives the Eagles (25-5, 13-3 SoCon) their second consecutive SoCon regular-season title and the top seed in next weekend's tournament, hosted by Furman in Greenville, S.C.
Jamie DeRatt recorded eight kills and 16 digs, while
Katie Bange posted eight kills.
Nicole Jeschelnik, playing in her final home game on Senior Day, contributed seven kills, six digs, three blocks and four service aces. Alexandra Beecher finished with a match-high 21 digs, and Katalin Minnerly had 34 assists.
Lauren Gray led Appalachian State (17-12, 9-7) with 11 kills, and Emily Corrigan posted eight kills and nine digs.
The Eagles were stout defensively and posted six blocks and 59 digs as a team. Georgia Southern held the Mountaineers to .093 hitting in the first set and .070 in the third frame.
"That was one of the most complete matches we've played," said Georgia Southern coach
Dustin Wood. "We dominated the play on every point today. Even the ones we didn't win, we made the right plays on. It's nice to see going into next week."
Leading 17-16, Georgia Southern used a 5-2 run to distance itself in the first set as Coley tallied two kills during the spurt. The Mountaineers cut the margin to 22-19, but the Eagles pushed for points on consecutive kills by DeRatt en route to winning the set 25-20.
A 10-2 run, ignited by three
Crysten Curry kills, opened a 17-7 lead for the Eagles in the second set, and Georgia Southern went on to take the frame 25-17. The Eagles jumped out to a 12-4 cushion in the third set and led by as many as 10 points en route to a 25-16 win.
Eagle seniors
Lauren LaRocque and
Enjoli Johnson also played in their final home match at Georgia Southern. LaRocque finished with four digs and an assist, while Johnson recorded a kill.
The Eagles will open SoCon Tournament play Friday, Nov. 22, at Timmons Arena in Greenville.
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.
