LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Edina Begic notched 30 kills and UALR won its 19th straight match by holding off Georgia Southern 3-2 (17-25, 25-21, 25-23, 23-25, 15-11) in Sun Belt Conference volleyball action Friday night in The Jack Stephens Center.

Cathrine Murray led the way for Georgia Southern (7-20, 6-11) with a career-high 23 kills to go along with eight digs. Kym Coley tallied 14 kills and three blocks, and Jamie DeRatt finished with seven kills and a career-high 24 digs. Kat Minnerly had 47 assists and six digs, and Avery Stephens notched 17 digs and five aces.

Begic added nine digs and hit .328 in the match with just eight errors on 67 swings for the Trojans (24-4, 18-0), who have already clinched the Sun Belt regular-season championship. Sonja Milanovic posted 17 kills and 13 digs, and Megan Mathis finished with 56 assists, six digs and three blocks.

The Eagles hung with the Trojans all night and trimmed a four-point deficit to 13-11 in the fifth set with the help of a Murray kill. Begic answered with a kill for UALR, and Adisa Hodzic finished out the match with a block.

"I'm certainly not happy with the loss, but we played very well tonight," said Georgia Southern coach Dustin Wood. "Cathrine played well in all aspects of the game, and Kym scored big points at key times. We didn't pass well enough consistently tonight, and that is something we have to clean up to get our game to the next level."

Murray notched two kills in a 5-1 Eagle run in the first set as Georgia Southern went on to win the frame 25-17 and take a 1-0 lead in the match. UALR took the second set 25-21, and the third frame was deadlocked at 22-22, when Milanovic put down a kill and Hodzic followed with an ace, one of 12 in the match for the Trojans. Murray answered with a kill for Georgia Southern, but Milanovic finished the set off with a kill.

The Eagles pushed out to a 19-12 lead in the fourth set and were ahead 23-18 following a block by Murray and Leah Joseph. UALR scored five straight points, keyed by consecutive blocks by Selimovic and Hodzic, to tie the score. Coley put down a kill for the Eagles, and a Trojan hitting error finished the set, sending the match to a fifth game. 

Georgia Southern plays its final league road match of the season at Arkansas State Sunday at 1 p.m.

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