LAFAYETTE, La. – Cathrine Murray collected 16 kills and nine digs, and Georgia Southern recorded a season-high 14 blocks to earn a 3-1 (25-16, 21-25, 25-14, 25-22) Sun Belt Conference volleyball victory over UL Lafayette Friday night in Earl K. Long Gym.

Katie Bange tallied 36 assists, 13 digs and seven blocks for the Eagles (8-13, 3-6), who have won three of their last four matches. Stephanie Spencer notched 11 kills, and Crysten Curry registered seven kills and six blocks. Lauren Reichard finished with eight blocks, and Alex Beecher had 17 digs.

Sara Mossakowski posted 10 kills and 10 digs to lead UL Lafayette (5-16, 1-8), and Hanna Rovira finished with eight kills and six digs. Keely Hayes tallied 25 assists, eight kills and seven digs.
 

---

The story
Leading 2-1 in the match, Georgia Southern opened a five-point lead at 18-13 in the fourth set after a block by Bange and Reichard. The Ragin' Cajuns battled back with four straight points before a serving error stopped the run. Georgia Southern pushed the score to 23-20 on a Murray kill, but Rovira put down a ball and an Eagle hitting error made the score 23-22. Spencer got a kill for match point, and Reichard and Megan Chevalier combined for Georgia Southern's 14th block of the match to end it. The Eagles hit .385 in the first set and led by as many as 10 points. Georgia Southern posted five blocks and 15 digs in the third set to hold the Ragin' Cajuns to .000 hitting. 
 

---

Quotable from Coach Dustin Wood
"It was a nice weekend for us in Louisiana. Both matches were good tests for us to finish out matches and sets. Our offense is coming together, and we did a great job tonight executing our offense. Crysten (Curry) was unstoppable in the middle tonight hitting .500 and Cathrine (Murray) showed us what type of numbers she can put up each night. She played with a lot of fire and executed well in and out of system. Steph (Spencer) did a fantastic job playing at a high ceiling tonight and putting pace on the ball. The outsides have been working hard at practice to make the little changes that make them so much better. Katie (Bange) executed the offense well again tonight and shut their outsides down with her block. It's the best blocking night I have seen in her since she has been here. We are getting better each week, and I am proud of our staff and team for getting better each day. We're looking forward to being home next weekend."
 

---

Next Up
The Eagles return home to face long-time rival Appalachian State next Friday and UT Arlington Saturday in a pair of Sun Belt Conference contests. First serve for both matches is 6:30 p.m. in Hanner Fieldhouse.

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 visiting GSEagles.com/tickets.