STATESBORO – Leah Hardeman tallied 26 kills, 10 digs and three blocks to lead Coastal Carolina to a 3-2 (21-25, 25-15, 26-24, 24-26, 15-8) Sun Belt Conference volleyball victory over Georgia Southern Thursday night in Hanner Fieldhouse.
The GS middles combined for 33 kills and six blocks with
Lauren Reichard leading the way with 17 kills and five blocks and
Skylar Ball collecting 16 kills and six blocks.Â
Megan Chevalier added nine kills and two blocks for the Eagles (7-18, 3-10).
April Luther posted 22 assists and 10 digs and
Joscelin Morrow added 15 digs. The Eagles forced a fifth set by fighting off four match points in the fourth frame, using a 6-0 run to win the set.
Kinga Windisch finished with 15 kills and eight digs for Coastal Carolina (14-7, 11-1), while Dora Lulic had 11 kills and four blocks.
The story
Trailing 24-20 in the fourth, GS scored six in a row to win the set as Chevalier had a kill and assisted Ball on a block. Reichard served five points in the run, and her last serve resulted in an overpass, which
Anna Wenger put down to win the set.
Trailing 4-3 in the fifth, the Chants scored four of the next five points to open an 8-5 lead. GS scored the next point, but Hardeman collected three kills and assisted on two blocks to help Coastal Carolina put the Eagles away with a 6-1 spurt.
With the score tied 12-12 in the first set, Chevalier put down a ball and Reichard served an ace as the Eagles scored four straight. After Coastal Carolina cut the margin to 21-19, the Eagles scored three in a row with the help of a Reichard kill and a Luther ace.
The Chanticleers ran off eight straight points, with seven coming during the serve of Windisch, to take control of the second set. With the match tied 1-1, the Eagles fought off one set point in the third when Reichard put down a kill, but Hardeman responded with a kill for the Chants and then assisted on a block to win the set.
Quotable from head coach Dustin Wood
"We really honed in on it this week, and I'm very proud of both setters and what they did in establishing the middle. You have 22 and 27 attempts out of your middles, and that also means you are passing well. We also extended our ranges a little bit so I'm very pleased with the setters and the decisions they made."
"It was a very well-played match so I'm happy with the way we played but not happy with the loss. If I was a fan in the stands, I mean, that was a great match to watch - well-played volleyball. We played well tonight, but it just wasn't enough. Hardeman carried them in the fifth set; she's an All-American for a reason."
Next up
GS plays host to Appalachian State Friday at 6:30 p.m. in Hanner Fieldhouse. The Sun Belt match 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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