STATESBORO – Emma Longley tallied 22 kills, and Courtney Sullivan added 20 to lead Appalachian State to a 3-2 (25-20, 23-25, 21-25, 25-20, 15-13) Sun Belt Conference volleyball victory over Georgia Southern Friday night in Hanner Fieldhouse.
Cathrine Murray posted 14 kills, 15 digs and four blocks for the Eagles (7-19, 3-11), while
Lauren Reichard added 12 kills and five blocks.
Skylar Ball notched 11 kills and two blocks, and
Landon Jones finished with 27 assists and 22 digs.
Ashlyn Brown collected 59 assists and 17 digs for Appalachian State (10-17, 5-8), while Cassidy Stephenson and Lexi Kohut each recorded nine kills.
The story
Ball and Murray had kills as GS rallied from a 13-9 deficit to tie the score in the fifth and final set. Sullivan made it match point with a kill, and Longley finished things off with a kill.
GS led the match 2-1 after winning the third set and trailed 18-17 after a kill by Ball. App scored the next three points in a 4-1 run and opened a 22-18 lead on a Stephenson kill. Reichard got a kill for the Eagles, but the Mountaineers outscored GS 3-1 the rest of the way to force the fifth.
Georgia Southern outhit App .272 to .184 and held the edge in blocks and digs but could not find a way to get past the Mountaineers.
Quotable from head coach Dustin Wood
"We're hitting .272 as a team, and in the fifth set, we got tentative. We just didn't swing at some balls we should have. The good thing is that we're playing some really good volleyball, we just have to finish. We talked about it in the locker room, and I know some of our kids are pretty hard on themselves, especially ones that had the opportunity to make some plays and didn't. So, I'm anxious to see how we come out next week."
"I'd rather them be aggressive and lose then be tentative. I told them before the fifth to be aggressive, and I thought we were being aggressive when we fought back but when it got to 13-13, we got tentative. I'm confident in this group, and I think we're playing our best volleyball at the right time, now we just have to finish."
Next up
Savannah State visits Hanner Fieldhouse Monday, and the Eagles host Georgia State in the home finale on Senior Night Wednesday. First serve for both matches is 6:30 p.m.
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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