STATESBORO – Jha'Meisheia Griffin tallied 14 kills and seven blocks as Georgia State outlasted Georgia Southern 3-2 (20-25, 26-24, 25-20, 22-25, 15-13) in Sun Belt Conference volleyball action Wednesday night in Hanner Fieldhouse.

Cathrine Murray led Georgia Southern (8-20, 3-12) with 12 kills to go along with 17 digs and five blocks. The senior became the ninth Eagle to reach 1,000 career kills, and her 1,000th was a big one that gave the Eagles a 22-21 lead in the fourth set. 

Skylar Ball recorded 11 kills and six blocks, and Megan Chevalier posted 11 kills. Lauren Reichard collected seven kills and seven blocks, and Joscelin Morrow had 19 digs.

Griffin hit .429 for Georgia State (8-19, 2-12), and Katie Creger finished with 11 kills and eight blocks. Celeste Friesen had a match-high 26 digs.

State picks up half a point in the Southern vs. State Rivalry Series and now leads 5.0-0.5. Another half point is on the line as the Panthers host the Eagles Saturday at 6 p.m. in Atlanta.

The story
The match ended in a bit of controversy after Georgia State came back from a 6-1 deficit in the fifth set and had match point at 14-13. Murray's attack attempt was dug up by Friesen and appeared to the Georgia Southern bench to be contacted four times by the Panthers before coming back over the net. The play continued, and Crystal Lee put a ball down the sideline to make the score 15-13. Georgia Southern attempted to challenge that there were four contacts, but officials ruled that the play was not reviewable.

A Reichard kill put the Eagles ahead 10-7 in the fifth, but the Panthers stormed back with four straight points and took the lead on a Morgan Hash kill. The teams traded points until Lee's kill gave State a 14-13 lead.

Trailing 2-1 in the match, Southern overcame a 19-16 deficit in the fourth, scoring four in a row with the help of kills by Murray and Carly Turner and an ace by Brooke Birch. The Panthers retook the lead at 21-20 before the Eagles capped the set with a 5-1 spurt, keyed by two Murray kills and an ace by Morrow, to send it to five.

Quotable from head coach Dustin Wood
On the controversial play
"I saw four touches, and we put ourselves in that position, but we have replay assistance for a reason and we didn't use it and I'm disappointed in that. They said it wasn't challengeable, and in the rule book, it clearly states that four contacts is challengeable, but they wouldn't let me challenge it."

On the momentum swings in the match
"I thought we did a really good job in the fifth set coming out aggressive and getting up 6-1, and then after a timeout, we let a four-point run go. Then we fought our way back into the lead. It was just a match of ups and downs, and they made bigger plays then we did. Those four or five-point runs have been our Achilles heel all season. I thought being in two five setters last weekend would help us, but we still need to learn how to finish matches when we have the opportunity to."

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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