Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The Georgia Southern volleyball team lost two matches against two of the top teams in the country on the opening day of the 2014 season in the Active Ankle Challenge at the University of Florida Friday. 

The Eagles fell 3-0 to the No. 10 Gators this afternoon and lost a 3-1 decision to Oklahoma, which is receiving votes in the top-25 poll, this evening. 

Junior Katie Bange posted a career-high 17 kills to lead the Eagles in the nightcap, while senior Kym Coley notched 16 kills in the two matches combined, including nine against the Sooners. 

"We learned a lot about ourselves today, and we know what we have to work on for tomorrow and going forward to win at the highest level," said Georgia Southern coach Dustin Wood. 

The Eagles play their final match of the weekend when they take on Idaho Saturday at noon in the O'Connell Center.

Oklahoma 3, Georgia Southern 1 (20-25, 25-20, 25-23, 25-18)
Freshman Megan Chevalier tallied nine kills, three aces and three blocks and junior Crysten Curry finished with six kills and three blocks.

The turning point came late in the third set with the match tied 1-1. Bange and Coley tied the score 22-22 with a block, but Kimmy Gardiner answered with a kill and then served an ace to make it set point. Chevalier got a kill for the Eagles, but Micaela Spann closed the set with a kill for Oklahoma.

"We played at a top-25 caliber most of the match against Oklahoma, but they made some runs on us at crucial times," said Wood.

The Eagles were much better in their second outing of the day, hitting .381 for the match. Down 17-16 in the first set, senior Jamie DeRatt notched two kills and Curry added a third as the Eagles ran off four straight points. Oklahoma called timeout and scored three in a row to make the margin 20-19, but Bange and Curry answered with consecutive kills to hold off the Sooners.

Gardiner finished with 16 kills for Oklahoma, and Madison Ward added a match-high 18 kills.

Florida 3, Georgia Southern 0 (25-19, 25-11, 25-15)
Florida posted nine team blocks and held the Eagles to a -.128 hitting percentage for the match as Georgia Southern had 31 errors and 20 kills. DeRatt and Coley led the Eagles with seven kills each, while Avery Stephens collected 10 digs. 

"We came out strong against Florida, but they were able to put a lot of pressure on us that made us make way too many unforced errors," said Wood.

The Eagles fought back from an early 4-1 deficit in the first set and took two leads late. A DeRatt kill gave the Eagles a 17-16 lead and following an Eagle service error, Coley put GSU back on top 18-17 with a kill. Florida ran off five straight points, as Georgia Southern committed four hitting errors, to pull away.

The Gators scored the first seven points of the second set and used a 7-1 run in the third set to blow open a slim two-point lead. Noami Santos-Lamb tallied seven kills to lead the Gators, and Rhamat Alhassan notched eight kills and four blocks.

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