Davidson Edges Georgia Southern Volleyball 3-2

Saturday, November 9

Davidson, N.C.

2 p.m.

Georgia Southern University

23-6, 11-4SoCon

Davidson

15-13, 6-8SoCon

Georgia Southern

Davidson

Jamie DeRatt led the Eagles with 19 kills and 14 digs.

Photo by: Frank Fortune - Georgia Southern Athletics

11/9/2013 6:36:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

By: Marc Gignac

DAVIDSON, N.C. – Two Megan Chamberlin service aces aided a 4-1 Davidson run late in the fifth set, and the Wildcats downed Georgia Southern 3-2 (25-21, 22-25, 19-25, 25-16, 15-12) in Southern Conference volleyball action Saturday afternoon at Belk Arena.

With the score tied 4-4 in the fifth set, Davidson used a 5-1 run to open a 9-5 lead as the Eagles committed two attack errors and a serving error to help the run. Bange got a kill and was in on a block, and DeRatt added a kill as the Eagles stormed back to tie the match 11-11, setting the stage for the Wildcats' final push.

Jamie DeRatt led the Eagles (23-5, 11-3 SoCon) with 19 kills and 14 digs, while Kym Coley posted 13 kills and two blocks. Katie Bange finished with nine kills and seven blocks, while Crysten Curry collected nine kills and eight blocks.

Caroline Brown finished with 20 kills and 19 digs to lead Davidson (15-13, 6-8 SoCon), and Taylor Pisel contributed 10 kills and five blocks. Chamberlin tallied nine kills and seven digs, and Tindall Sewell posted seven kills and five blocks.

Trailing 2-1 in the match, Davidson held the Eagles to a .000 hitting percentage in the fourth set, recording five team blocks and forcing GSU into 11 hitting errors en route to winning the set 25-16. A 5-0 Wildcat run during Jenna Ptaschinski's serve broke a 12-12 tie. Leading 18-14 later in the set, Davidson put Georgia Southern away by outscoring the Eagles 7-2.

"Davidson played really well, and we got beat," said Georgia Southern coach Dustin Wood. "We just couldn't get rolling today with our setter connections with our hitters. Hats off to Davidson."

With the score tied 18-18 in the first set, Pisel sparked a 3-0 Davidson run with a kill, and after Emily Franklin assisted on a couple blocks, the Wildcats opened a 24-19 cushion. DeRatt and Vereb got kills for the Eagles before Chamberlin ended the set with a kill for Davidson.

The Eagles trailed 21-18 in the second set but scored six straight points with the aid of two blocks and a pair of DeRatt kills. Brown halted the run with a kill for Davidson, but Curry put down a kill for the Eagles to tie the match 1-1.

GSU had a four-point lead late in the third, but kills by Pisel and Brown helped the Wildcats trim the margin to 19-18. The Eagles called a timeout and pulled away out of the break as two kills by DeRatt and one from Curry sparked a 6-1 run to finish the frame and give the Eagles a 2-1 lead in the match.

Georgia Southern caps the regular-season with a pair of SoCon home games next weekend. The Eagles will take on Western Carolina Friday at 6 p.m. and Appalachian State Saturday at 3 p.m. as part of a tripleheader with men's and women's basketball. Saturday's game will be Senior Day.

"I am looking forward to working hard this week and celebrating our seniors next weekend," said Wood. "We will work hard to be prepared and at our best for the stretch run."

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.