STATESBORO – Nia Antoine tallied 18 kills and five blocks to lead Louisiana to a 3-1 (25-19, 25-18, 23-25, 25-26) Sun Belt Conference volleyball victory over Georgia Southern Friday night in Hanner Fieldhouse.

It was the conference opener for both teams. 

Megan Chevalier recorded 13 kills, three blocks and hit .375 for Georgia Southern (2-8, 0-1), and Anna Wenger finished with 13 kills and a block. Casey McColl registered a career-high 25 digs, and April Luther contributed 42 assists, eight digs and three blocks. Lauren Reichard added nine kills and six blocks.

Hali Wisnoskie had 13 kills for Louisiana (7-7, 1-0), and Stacey Reilly chipped in 10 kills and 16 digs. Antoine hit .536 in the match, and Jessica Bartczyszyn finished with 48 assists, seven digs and four blocks.

The story
Trailing 2-0 in the match, Georgia Southern fought off the Ragin' Cajuns to take the third set 25-23. With the score tied 23-23, Luther and Skylar Ball combined for an Eagle block, and Chevalier finished the set with a kill.

GS took an early two-point advantage and led 11-10 in the fourth, but Louisiana used a 9-1 run to take control of the frame. Antoine had two kills during the run, and Reilly added a kill and an ace. 

Two straight kills by Wenger trimmed the margin to 19-16, but that was as close as the Eagles would get. The Ragin' Cajuns got a sideout on an Eagle error, and Sydney Davis served out the match as Louisiana scored the final six points of the set.

Quotable from head coach Dustin Wood
"We didn't pass very well, and I think it showed especially when our setter was front row. We had one option. They did a really good job of getting us out of system. Give them credit. They passed well and were the more aggressive team tonight, especially on the offensive side."

"We have to forget about this one pretty quick. We have another conference match in here tomorrow night. We're really prepared for it; it's just a matter of executing. We just didn't execute tonight in the passing and serving battle, and when we did, we played really well. We just put a lot of pressure on one hitter, and they transitioned better than us."

"Megan Chevalier had a heck of a night, and the reason she did is because she was really aggressive offensively and wound up hitting .375. Some of our other pins weren't aggressive and a little hesitant and scared to make a mistake, so what we asked them to do going forward is follow Chev's lead."

Next up
Georgia Southern continues its three-match homestand against Sun Belt opponent ULM Saturday at 6:30 p.m.

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