ROCK HILL, S.C. – Brianna Gray had 21 kills, and Kelsey Schroll was in on two blocks for the last points of the match as Winthrop topped Georgia Southern 3-2 (25-22, 24-26, 25-22, 21-25, 20-18) in volleyball action 
Monday night in the Winthrop Coliseum.

Cathrine Murray tallied 20 kills, 13 digs and four aces for Georgia Southern (4-4), while Katie Bange recorded her second triple-double of the season after collecting 15 kills, 21 assists and 11 digs.

Georgia Southern battled back from an early four-point deficit in the deciding set and fought off three match points before falling. Bange and Lauren Reichard combined for a block that gave GS an 18-17 lead and a chance to win it, but Sammie Jo Ah-Hong put a ball down for Winthrop to tie the score. 

Schroll and Ah-Hong combined for a block to give WU the lead, and Schroll teamed with Sydney Gunter for another block to win it. 

Anna Wenger posted a season-high 10 kills for Georgia Southern, and Reichard finished with six kills and five blocks. Alex Beecher collected 15 digs and seven assists, and Kendra Koetter had 27 assists.

Ah-Hong had six of her 10 kills in the fifth set for Winthrop (3-4), and Keaupono Fey registered 20 kills. Siani Yamaguchi tallied a match-high 61 assists.

Georgia Southern rallied from a 6-2 deficit in the fifth, and a three-point run, keyed by a kill and an ace from Bange, tied the score 13-13. GS had two chances to end it from there, but Winthrop had the answer each time.

Quotable from head coach Dustin Wood
"We lost the match because of our defense. We did not dig enough balls tonight, which was frustrating because we had opportunities to make plays and we didn't. They ran an offense with a lot of speed, and our discipline on defense broke down."

"We can't fall behind 6-2 in the fifth. We did a great job in fighting back to get two match-point opportunities but couldn't finish it with our lack of defense tonight."

"Katie and Catherine were very consistent for us tonight and produced, and Anna was stable on the opposite side. We need some more help offensively from our group to help free them up more. Winthrop did a good job of keying on Cathrine and Katie towards the end. We just needed more production out of others."

"We will work hard this week to get better defensively. It was a good mid-week road test for us, especially going deep in the fifth. We will learn from it."

Next Up
The Eagles host the SpringHill Suites Invitational in Hanner Fieldhouse this weekend. Georgia Southern will play host to Buffalo, Wake Forest and South Carolina Friday and Saturday.

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