Box Score

STATESBORO, Ga. – Jamie DeRatt collected career highs of 23 kills and 19 digs to lead Georgia Southern to a 3-1 (25-20, 25-17, 25-27, 25-21) Southern Conference volleyball victory over Elon in the league opener for both teams.

DeRatt hit .291 on 55 swings and added four blocks and an ace for the Eagles (13-2, 1-0 SoCon). Crysten Curry posted 11 kills and eight blocks, while Katie Bange notched 11 kills and two blocks.

Nicole Jeschelnik finished with 11 kills and a career-high 20 digs, and Katalin Minnerly tallied 52 assists, 10 digs and four kills. Alexandra Beecher finished with a match-high 27 digs.

Megan Gravely led Elon (8-8, 0-1 SoCon) with 14 kills, and Ally Karle posted nine kills and five blocks. Kris Harris finished with nine kills, seven digs and three blocks.

The Eagles took a 2-0 lead in the match after hitting .409 in the second set with just two errors and 20 kills. Georgia Southern carried that into the third frame and built an 18-13 lead on a kill by Bange. Elon rallied, using an 8-3 run capped by a Harris kill, to tie the score 21-21. A Karle kill broke a 25-25 tie, and she followed that with a solo block to give the Phoenix a 27-25 victory.

Leading 7-5 in the fourth set, the Eagles used a 7-2 spurt, aided by two Curry kills, to open a 13-7 lead. The margin did not dip below three points until late in the set when an Eagle hitting error made the score 23-21. Georgia Southern responded with consecutive kills by Bange and Christina Vereb to end the match.

"In the second set, we played a near perfect game; we hit over .400," said Georgia Southern coach Dustin Wood. "In the third set, they made some adjustments and put some pressure on us, but we're happy to get out of here with a win. We know each conference game is going to be a fight. We handled ourselves well mentally tonight."

Georgia Southern is back in action Saturday as the Eagles take on UNCG in Hanner Fieldhouse at 2 p.m. Fans who have football tickets to the Eagles' 6 p.m. contest against UNCG will get free admission to the volleyball match. It's also Volleyball Alumni Day, and GSU volleyball alumni will be honored at intermission.

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.