STATE COLLEGE, Pa. – Megan Chevalier posted 15 kills and five blocks on the day, but the Georgia Southern volleyball team lost two matches by 3-0 scores in the Penn State Classic Saturday.

Ninth-ranked and tournament host Penn State (2-0) beat the Eagles in the morning, and West Virginia (1-2) topped Georgia Southern (0-3) in the afternoon.

Chevalier collected 11 kills and five blocks against the Mountaineers, while Cathrine Murray tallied six kills and seven digs. Anna Wenger finished with six kills and a pair of digs.  Wenger led the way with five kills against Penn State, while Lauren Reichard and Chevalier each collected four.

The Story vs. West Virginia
Leading 1-0 in the match, the Mountaineers overcame a 16-12 deficit in the second set and used an 8-3 run to open a 20-19 lead on a Haley Roe ace. Murray got a kill to tie the score, and the teams traded points before Hannah Shreve and Payton Caffrey combined for a block and Caffrey followed it with consecutive kills as West Virginia opened a 24-21 cushion. Caffrey and Mia Swanegan combined for a block for the final point that gave WVU the 2-0 lead in the match.

West Virginia used the momentum to jump out to a 7-2 cushion in the third and led by as many as eight points en route to the sweep. 

Georgia Southern trimmed a four-point deficit to 12-11 on a Murray kill in the first set, but the Mountaineers called timeout and went on a 5-1 run on their way to opening a 21-14 advantage. The Eagles got to within three points twice but would get no closer. 

Caffrey paced West Virginia with 11 kills and five blocks, and the Mountaineers had 14 blocks as a team to hold the Eagles to .010 hitting for the match.

The Story vs. Penn State
The Nittany Lions were too much for the Eagles and held Georgia Southern to minus .063 hitting for the match with 23 errors and 18 kills as a team. Penn State never trailed in the match and hit .424, including .579 in the second set and .476 in the third. The Eagles also committed nine service errors as a team.

Quotable from head coach Dustin Wood
"We learned a lot about ourselves this weekend with the level of play we had to play at. There were things that we didn't obviously do well, and there were signs of brilliance. The unfortunate thing is we were not consistently playing well. We had too many five to seven point runs that we couldn't get out of. It was either the passing, setting or hitting errors."

"Penn state is a great team, and we went back and forth with them for a little while until they pulled away. WVU was back and forth. We played well but had too many errors at important times. We had the lead in the second, but unforced errors led us to dropping the set and we never recovered."

"Our players will work hard this week so we can find the right combination we can depend on. We're looking forward to playing in front of our home crowds in Hanner next week."

Next Up
The Eagles open their home schedule by hosting the Bash in the Boro Thursday and Friday in the refurbished Hanner Fieldhouse. Matches begin at 11 a.m. both days, and Georgia Southern plays two matches each day.
 
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