Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

BOULDER, Colo. – Kym Coley posted 23 kills for the day, but the Georgia Southern volleyball team dropped a pair of matches at the Omni Classic, falling 3-0 to host Colorado and 3-1 to Portland State Saturday in the Coors Events Center.

"We struggled all weekend and are trying to find our identity," said Georgia Southern coach Dustin Wood. "We need to go back to practice working on the basic things and continue to improve each and every day to get better as a program, which I'm sure we will do. We will take what we saw these last two weekends and learn from it and continue to move forward into Sun Belt play."

Portland State 3, Georgia Southern 1 (25-14, 23-25, 25-14, 25-19)
Coley notched 15 kills, one shy of her career high, and Jamie DeRatt finished with nine kills and seven digs for the Eagles (0-6). Leah Joseph collected a career-high nine blocks and five kills, and Kat Minnerly tallied 30 assists and nine digs.

Cheyne Corrado tallied 13 kills and nine digs, and Roni LaPierre posted 11 kills and eight digs for the Vikings (1-5).

Georgia Southern had 11 team blocks and forced Portland State into 25 hitting errors but had 26 hitting errors of its own and only hit .093 in the match.

The Eagles led 10-8 in the first set, but Portland State used an 11-2 spurt to take control.  Georgia Southern battled back from a five-point deficit in the second set, tied the score 20-20 and pushed ahead 23-20 with the help of a kill by Megan Chevalier. A DeRatt kill made it set point and after Corrado got a kill for the Vikings, DeRatt ended the set with a kill.

Portland State bounced back by jumping out to a 7-1 advantage and led by as many as 10 points to take the third set. In the fourth set, the Vikings used a 6-1 run to push a one-point margin into a six point lead, and the Eagles were never able to work the margin under three points.

Colorado 3, Georgia Southern 0 (25-20, 25-19, 25-15)
Coley hit .375 and logged eight kills, but the Eagles were held to an .011 hitting percentage as a team. DeRatt recorded nine kills and Cathrine Murray posted six.

Taylor Simpson posted 12 kills and four blocks to lead Colorado (4-1), while Joslyn Hayes notched seven kills and Neira Ortiz Ruiz had six. The Buffs tallied eight team blocks and forced 29 Eagle hitting errors.

The Eagles led 9-8 in the first set, but Colorado used a 6-1 run to open a 14-10 cushion. Georgia Southern drew within three points at 19-16 on a DeRatt kill and 21-18 on a Colorado service error but could get no closer. A 5-1 run in the second set pushed a two-point Colorado lead to a 16-10 advantage, and the Buffs scored seven straight points early in the third set to take control.

The Eagles finish off the majority of their grueling non-conference schedule at the Carolina Classic next weekend. Georgia Southern will face VCU Friday and No. 20 North Carolina (AVCA Poll) and No. 16  Kentucky Saturday in Carmichael Arena.

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