Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – Georgia Southern freshman Cathrine Murray tallied 20 kills in two matches, but the Eagles fell to a pair of ranked teams, losing 3-0 to No. 17 North Carolina and 3-1 to No. 16 Kentucky in the Carolina Classic in Carmichael Arena Saturday.

Murray posted seven kills, eight digs and two blocks against the Tar Heels and 13 kills, six digs and three blocks against the Wildcats. Senior Kym Coley registered 18 kills and seven blocks on the day, while classmate Jamie DeRatt posted 16 kills and 12 digs for the Eagles (0-9).

The matches today were the fifth and sixth the Eagles have played against Power 5 conference opponents this season. 

"Everything clicked for our program tonight, and I thought we battled and played at a top-25 level – we just had some unlucky breaks that didn't go our way," said Georgia Southern coach Dustin Wood. "We have a lot of momentum going into Sun Belt play and will use our tough non-conference schedule to help with matches in the Sun Belt."

No. 16 Kentucky 3, Georgia Southern 1 (22-25, 25-19, 25-15, 25-18)
DeRatt had 10 kills, eight digs and a block, and Coley contributed 11 kills and four blocks. Leah Joseph added five kills and four blocks. The Eagles hit .191 in the match and tried to serve aggressively which led to 10 errors. 

The Eagles trailed just once early in the first set and with the score tied 22-22, Murray put down a kill, Ashley Jones served an ace and DeRatt polished off the set with a kill, giving Georgia Southern a 1-0 lead in the match.

The second set went back and forth until Kentucky broke a 12-12 tie with consecutive kills by Shelby Workman. Georgia Southern kept the margin at two points on a Murray kill that made the score 18-16, but the Wildcats pushed ahead with a 6-2 run.

Down 2-1 in the match, the Eagles trailed by 10 points early in the fourth set but used an 8-3 run to trim the margin to 18-13. Coley had two kills and a block during the stretch, but it was as close as Georgia Southern would get.

No. 17 North Carolina 3, Georgia Southern 0 (25-22, 25-9, 25-14)
Coley and Murray logged seven kills each and DeRatt added six. North Carolina collected 11.5 team blocks, forced Georgia Southern into 25 hitting errors and held the Eagles to .012 hitting.

The Tar Heels scored the first six points of the match, but the Eagles battled back and made the margin 10-9 on a DeRatt kill. Trailing 24-19, Georgia Southern fought off three set points with kills by Murray and DeRatt and a block by Joseph and Megan Chevalier, but Taylor Treacy finished the set with a kill for North Carolina.

The Tar Heels used that momentum to win the second set 25-9. A 7-2 Tar Heel run in the third set pushed a 13-10 lead into a 20-12 cushion.

Georgia Southern plays its first Sun Belt Conference match Wednesday at Troy. Game time is set for 7 p.m. Eastern. 

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, twitter.com/GSAthletics, iOS app Georgia Southern Eagles and Android app Eagles GATA. Fans can purchase tickets to Georgia Southern Athletics events by calling 1-800-GSU-WINS or by visiting GSEagles.com.