CLEMSON, S.C. – All-Tournament selection Cathrine Murray tallied 21 kills and 12 digs in two matches today, but Georgia Southern fell 3-1 to Clemson and 3-0 to Texas Tech at the Clemson Challenge Saturday.

Murray had 12 kills and 11 digs in the first match against Clemson (5-6) and added nine kills against Texas Tech (11-2). Lauren Reichard contributed 15 kills and four blocks on the day for the Eagles (2-7), and Casey McColl collected 19 digs.

The story vs. Clemson
The Tigers hit .303 while holding the Eagles to .100, including .000 in the third set and .079 in the fourth. After dropping the first set 25-13, GS rallied to win the second. Georgia Southern trailed by as many as six points early but used an 8-2 run late to open a 22-20 lead thanks to some good serving by April Luther and Joscelin Morrow that put the pressure on Clemson.

The Tigers scored the next three points, but GS answered with three points of its own to win the set 25-23. Megan Chevalier ignited the run with a kill, McColl served up an ace and Reichard put down a ball to finish it. 

A 9-3 run in the middle of the third set gave the Tigers the breathing room they needed to retake the lead in the match, and Clemson used a decisive 7-2 spurt to turn a 15-15 tie into a 22-17 advantage on the way to taking the fourth.

The story vs. Texas Tech
Texas Tech held the Eagles to .103 hitting, including minus .028 in the third set. Georgia Southern led in every set, but Texas Tech put together big runs against the Eagles. An 8-1 spurt in the first set, a 4-0 stretch followed by a 5-0 run in the second and an 8-0 run in the third gave Texas Tech the breathing room it needed in the 3-0 sweep. 

Quotable from head coach Dustin Wood
"We learned a lot about ourselves this weekend. We are getting consistent play from Cathrine (Murray) and Lauren (Reichard), but we need more consistent play with the other five players in the rotation. It's there, but we need to find the right personnel to get our offense firing on all cylinders and get our attackers in position to be successful. We played three straight matches against very good Power 5 programs, and we competed well in the first two matches and ran out of gas in the back end of today's back-to-back matches. We know where we need to get better on the floor."

On Clemson
"We came out a little flat in the first set. They served us off the court where we couldn't repair the second ball. We fought back in the second and put a great set together behind consistent play from everyone. We battled hard and played well but came up just short in the end. I'm happy with the way we played after the first. Hats off to Clemson; they played well, and it was a battle.

On Texas Tech
"We had an hour and 15 minute turnaround between matches, which wasn't the best situation for our kids. They hung in tough for the first two sets but lost focus a few times when fatigue set in. Texas Tech did a great job of keeping balls up off the floor and scoring points with their transition offense."

On Murray and Reichard
"Catherine and Lauren led the way for us this weekend. I'm so proud of them for how they competed and led our team on the floor. Cathrine's play earned her an all-tournament selection. She has put together everything we have asked her to do in her four years here and is now being that elite six row outside hitter that we saw in her."

On opening conference play
"We're looking forward to opening up Sun Belt play in Hanner this upcoming weekend. We had ups and downs and were tested in the meat of our non-conference schedule. We learned a lot about ourselves and know we can make a run in our conference. We will get our kids prepared and ready for Louisiana on Friday night."

Next up
Georgia Southern opens Sun Belt Conference play at home next weekend. The Eagles host Louisiana Friday and ULM Saturday, and both matches are set for 6:30 p.m. starts.

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