TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Cathrine Murray registered 14 kills and 13 digs to lead Georgia Southern to a 3-1 (25-21, 25-27, 25-19, 26-24) volleyball victory over Presbyterian in the Eagles first match of the Hampton Inn Crimson-White Tournament Friday night.

Stephanie Spencer tallied 12 kills and 13 digs, while Katie Bange recorded 12 kills, nine digs, 24 assists and five blocks for the Eagles (7-6). Alex Beecher had 24 digs, leaving her just 22 away from 2,000 for her career.

Samantha Del Toro had 10 kills to lead Presbyterian (2-10), and Erin Eulitz finished with eight kills and 15 digs.

The story
Reilly Bosworth tallied three of her four kills on the night and added a block in a 7-1 GS run that helped erase a 13-6 deficit in the fourth set. The Eagles still trailed 22-20, but two Anna Wenger kills sparked a 4-1 run to give GS match point. Presbyterian fought one off, but Wenger answered with a kill and assisted on a block to give the Eagles the next two points and end the match.

Georgia Southern won the first set and fought off two set points in the second before falling 27-25. The Eagles opened a six-point lead in the third with a 7-2 spurt, keyed by kills from Murray, Spencer and Bosworth. Presbyterian cut the margin to 22-19, but that was as close as it would get.

Quotable from head coach Dustin Wood
"It was a good win for us today. We were shaky at times letting up big runs when we were up, but I'm proud of the group for fighting through it.  I know we can play better tomorrow." 

"We need to execute better on our first touches, and our setters need to dictate the speed of our offense better. Steph and Cathrine led the way for us tonight; they were steady. We need more production out of our oppo attack, and we need Lauren (Reichard) to get going. Reilly did the little things well for us in the middle tonight, and Alex came up with some key digs."

"I'm looking forward to seeing what we will bring tomorrow with two tough matches."

Next up
The Eagles face East Tennessee State tomorrow at 3 p.m. and take on host Alabama at 8 p.m. in the Hampton Inn Crimson-White Tournament. The match against the Crimson Tide will be shown live on the SEC+ network and can be seen at WatchESPN.com.

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