STATESBORO, Ga. – Carlisa May tallied 12 kills and two blocks, and Drew Jones added 10 kills as Arkansas State won its 22nd straight match by topping Georgia Southern 3-0 (25-20, 25-22, 26-24) in the quarterfinals of the Sun Belt Conference Championship in Hanner Fieldhouse Friday night.

Megan Chevalier tallied 13 kills to lead Georgia Southern (10-19), and Lauren Reichard collected 10 kills. Katie Bange contributed 31 assists, six digs and three kills, and Alex Beecher finished with 15 digs.

Kelsey Reis added eight kills and five blocks for Arkansas State (26-1), and Mallory Warrington collected 36 assists, nine digs and two blocks.

Arkansas State advances to the semifinals, where the Red Wolves will face in-state rival and defending Sun Belt champion Little Rock at 6:30 p.m. in Hanner Fieldhouse Saturday. Appalachian State meets Texas State in the other semifinal at 4 p.m. Georgia Southern sees its season come to a close and returns five starters and 14 letterwinners to the 2016 team.
 

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The story
The third and final set saw 11 ties and six lead changes. The Eagles had set point at 24-23 after an Arkansas State attack error, but Reis put down a ball to tie the score. After May got a kill for the Red Wolves, Reis got a block to end the match. The Red Wolves were firing on all cylinders in the first set and opened a 13-4 advantage. Georgia Southern used a 7-1 run, keyed by three Chevalier kills and a pair of service aces by Bange, to get back in the match. The Eagles cut the margin to 21-20 on a kill by Bange, but Arkansas State ran off five straight points, capped by two blocks by Reis and May, to end the set. Leading 19-17 in the second set, Arkansas State pushed the margin to five points at 23-18 following a hitting error on the Eagles. Georgia Southern got to within two points before May ended the set with a kill.
 

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Quotable from head coach Dustin Wood
"They served well, and they put pressure on us. That was the difference in the match – serving and passing – and their outsides are good. Our passing broke down and they won the bigger points tonight. We came out with fire and competed hard and lost to a really, really good team. The bright spots were we had a good game plan that we executed well. Katie (Bange) played well, Megan (Chevalier) played well and we scored with our middles. I'm pleased with our effort, but they were the better team tonight."

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