STATESBORO – Iva Durdanovic tallied 11 kills, and South Alabama erased a 10-point deficit in the second set on its way to a 3-0 (25-14, 25-23, 25-21) Sun Belt Conference volleyball victory over Georgia Southern Friday night in Hanner Fieldhouse.

Cathrine Murray had nine kills and five digs for the Eagles (7-12, 3-5), while Lauren Reichard tallied seven kills and six blocks. Megan Chevalier collected eight kills and four blocks.

Kristina Alabastro posted eight kills and three digs for South Alabama (12-5, 7-0), which won its seventh straight match. Meaghan Jones and Kelley Hartman each finished with six kills, and Hartman added eight blocks.

The story
South Alabama won the defensive battle and the serving battle tonight. The Jags had six aces, 12 blocks and outdug the Eagles 43-37.

The turning point in the match came in the second set after the Eagles opened a 16-6 cushion. South Alabama made a huge run, winning 14 of the next 16 points to take a 20-18 lead. Hartman had an ace, a kill and two blocks during the stretch. 

The Eagles tied the score 22-22 on a Murray kill, but Morgan Stalcup and Durdanovic answered with kills for South Alabama. Reichard's kill held off one set point, but Durdanovic finished the set with a kill.

The score was tied 17-17 in the third before the Jags used a 6-1 run, keyed by a block and a kill by Durdanovic, to open a 23-18 lead. The Eagles scored the next two points with the aid of a kill by Murray but two GS miscues gave South Alabama the set and match.

South Alabama hit .458, with 14 kills and just three errors, and served four aces on its way to winning the first set 25-14.

Quotable from head coach Dustin Wood
"The first set obviously didn't go well, and I'm proud of the kids for how they came back and competed and let that first set go. They did a really good job to 16 points in the second, and then we coasted a little bit and we were less aggressive. We didn't do what got us to 16, and they got us."

"In the third set, I was happy with the way we competed. We swung hard, but again there some defensive mishaps and a lack of executing a transition ball in the setting game. You fix those two things, and we're right there, we're winning."

Next up
The Eagles travel to North Florida for a non-conference match Oct. 16 at 6 p.m. The contest will be broadcast live on ESPN3.

The volleyball program has launched a crowdfunding campaign to benefit Eagle Volleyball for years to come. It will be active until Friday, November 10, 2017, giving Eagle Volleyball only six weeks to reach their goal of $104,030. Contributions to the volleyball program fund commemorative gifts for graduating volleyball players, student-athlete trips to the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, recruiting efforts, volleyball-specific training tools, locker room upgrades and overall experience for volleyball student-athletes.

Donate today at Give.GSEagles.com/Volleyball and share this fundraising link to support Eagle Volleyball.

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