Volleyball Falls Twice at Crimson-White Tourney

Saturday, September 17

Tuscaloosa, Ala.

3 p.m.

Georgia Southern University

7-7

East Tennessee State

8-4

Georgia Southern

East Tennessee St.

Alex Beecher went over 2,000 digs for her career.

Photo by: Frank Fortune - Georgia Southern Athletics

9/17/2016 9:00:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

The Eagles open conference play next weekend in Louisiana.

By: Marc Gignac

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Redshirt senior Alex Beecher recorded 27 digs in two matches to go over 2,000 for her career, but Georgia Southern fell twice in the second day of the Hampton Inn Crimson-White Invite Saturday.

Already Georgia Southern's all-time leader in digs, Beecher now has 2,005 for her career. Lauren Reichard had 21 kills to lead the Eagles (7-8) today, and Katie Bange finished with 18 kills.

ETSU and Alabama each topped GS 3-0.

The story vs. Alabama
All three sets were tight, and GS led in all three, but Alabama made late runs to finish them off. A kill by Megan Chevalier and a Tide hitting error trimmed the Alabama lead to 17-16, but the Bama responded with a 5-2 run. Stephanie Spencer's kill halted the spurt, but Alabama capped the set with another 3-1 run to go ahead 1-0 in the match. The Eagles hit .312 in the set, but Alabama hit .353 with just four errors.

Down 2-0, GS was ahead 15-14 in the third, but a 6-2 run, capped by a Krystal Rivers service ace, opened a 20-17 Bama cushion. The Eagles won the next point but that was as close as they would get.

Reichard and Bange each had nine kills, and Rivers led Alabama (11-2) with a match-high 17 kills. Beecher finished with 16 digs.

The story vs. ETSU
Trailing 2-0 in the match, GS fought hard in the third and had two cracks at set point but couldn't cash in. The Eagles fought off four set points and led 30-29, but Rylee Milhorn answered with a kill and AJ Lux put down consecutive kills to end the match.

Reichard led the Eagles with 12 kills and four blocks, while Bange recorded nine kills and 13 assists. Chevalier returned to action for the first time since August and posted five kills on nine swings.

Lux finished with 17 kills, eight digs and three blocks for ETSU (8-4).

Quotable from head coach Dustin Wood
"We had an up-and-down weekend. We played really well at times today but let six and seven-point runs go in the two matches, and you just can't do that and expect to win against top level-teams."

"We were really consistent in the middle and oppo positions, and they have been our strong points. Lauren competed really well and couldn't be stopped, and Reilly was consistent and played steady this weekend. It was nice to get Chev (Megan Chevalier) back today from injury. She was terminating the ball and scoring for us."

"We played well against Alabama. The difference in the match was the serving and passing battle tonight, and they put away a few more balls in transition than we did. We had the opportunities but just couldn't capitalize on some swings out of the transition game."

"It was a great non-conference schedule that we put together. We saw a little bit of everything from the top teams in the nation to very good power-5 opponents. We are battle tested and ready for Sun Belt competition."

Next up
The Eagles open Sun Belt play with a pair of matches in Louisiana. GS takes on ULM Friday and UL Lafayette Saturday.

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