ATHENS, Ga. – Georgia Southern freshman Stephanie Spencer posted 38 kills on the day and notched a career-high 22 in a 3-1 (20-25, 25-17, 25-23, 25-21) win over Georgia in the nightcap of the Georgia Challenge in the Ramsey Center Thursday.

It was the Eagles' first win over the Bulldogs in program history (1-13). Georgia Southern fell 3-2 (25-20, 13-25, 25-21, 21-25, 13-15) to Kennesaw State in its first match of the day. 

Katie Bange posted 14 kills, 44 assists, 11 digs and four blocks in the two matches, and Alex Beecher recorded 41 digs. Megan Chevalier posted 18 kills and three blocks, and Kat Minnerly tallied 55 assists.
 

---

Storyline vs. Georgia
With the match tied 1-1 in the third, Georgia whittled a four-point Eagle lead down to 22-21, but Bange responded with a kill and assisted on a block with Lauren Reichard to make it set point. The Bulldogs scored the next two before Spencer put a ball down to give the Eagles a 2-1 lead in the match. The Eagles used a 4-1 run late in the fourth to push a one-point lead to 22-18 as Chevalier got a kill and assisted Crysten Curry on a block. A Spencer kill made it set point, and a Georgia service error ended the match.
 

---

Storyline vs. Kennesaw State
The Eagles overcame an 11-8 deficit in the fifth set on kills by Cathrine Murray, Curry and Spencer, and another kill by Spencer gave Georgia Southern a 13-12 lead. Kennesaw State responded by scoring the next three points on a kill by Anaiah Boyer and two Eagle hitting errors. Spencer finished the match with 16 kills, while Bange and Chevalier each had 10. Beecher collected 26 digs. Boyer finished with 18 kills for the Owls, and Kristi Piedimonte had 50 assists.
 

---

Quotables from Coach Dustin Wood
"It was a great win for our program tonight, and I am so proud of our kids. They shook off a shaky performance this afternoon and stepped up the level of play tonight against Georgia. It was a total team effort, highlighted by some freshmen stepping up. Steph (Spencer) and Lauren (Reichard) did a great job leading the way. Crysten (Curry) was solid all night, making big-time plays at key moments in the match, and that's something you can't coach. Joscelin (Morrow) made some key plays on some situational subs. Kat (Minnerly) and Katie (Bange) made much better decisions tonight. The team executed the game plan extremely well, and we're looking forward to playing Georgia Tech tomorrow and continuing our growth as a program."
 

---

Next Up
The Eagles take on Georgia Tech at 10 a.m. Friday in the Georgia Challenge in Athens.

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.