Volleyball Sweeps ULM 3-0

Saturday, September 23

Statesboro, Ga.

6:30 p.m.

Georgia Southern University

3-8, 1-1SBC

ULM

4-15, 0-2SBC

ULM

Georgia Southern

Lauren Reichard led the Eagles with 10 kills.

Photo by: Dan Groover

9/23/2017 9:15:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

Eagles host South Carolina State Tuesday night in Hanner.

By: Marc Gignac

STATESBORO – Georgia Southern middles Lauren Reichard and Skylar Ball combined for 18 kills and 13 blocks, and the Eagles picked up their first Sun Belt volleyball win with a 3-0 (26-24, 25-16, 25-21) victory over ULM Saturday night in Hanner Fieldhouse.

Reichard had 10 kills and four blocks for Georgia Southern (3-8, 1-1), and Ball added eight kills and nine blocks, both career highs for the freshman. The nine blocks was one away from tying the school record for blocks in a three-set match.

Anna Wenger chipped in nine kills and four blocks for the Eagles, and Megan Chevalier finished with eight kills and five blocks. April Luther tallied 33 assists, nine digs and a pair of aces.

Catherine Griffith led ULM (4-15, 0-2) with nine kills and two blocks, and Mikaela Worley posted seven kills, six digs and two blocks.

The story
Georgia Southern scored two straight points on a Chevalier kill and a Reichard block to break a 22-22 tie in the first set. ULM fought off two set points before a Warhawk error gave the Eagles a 25-24 lead. Luther dumped the ball over the net for one of her three kills on the night to give GS a 1-0 lead in the match.

The Eagle offense rolled in the second as GS hit .500, with 15 kills against one error, while holding ULM to .107. Reichard tied the score 12-12 with a kill, and Cathrine Murray revved up her jump serve to the tune of seven straight points as the Eagles opened an 18-12 cushion.

GS trailed 7-4 early in the third when Wenger's kill provided a sideout. Luther served five straight points, including two aces, to give the Eagles a 10-7 advantage. ULM fought back and trailed 22-21 before a Murray kill keyed a 3-0 GS run to finish the match.

Quotable from head coach Dustin Wood
On defense and blocking
"We had to respect (Catherine) Griffith, she's a good player, and I think we contained her pretty well. She hit .200 tonight and hit .667 last night. When she got the ball, we got Lauren (Reichard) on her and the matchup was good all three sets. Blocking-wise and defensively, we were okay after the first set. It's still something we need to work on, but overall, I was pretty happy."

On passing
"They went deep, and we don't see that too much. We weren't moving our feet and just lunging at balls, but they fixed it. They did a good job making adjustments tonight."

On offense
"Our setters connected with our hitters very well tonight. Our passing runs the offense, and we had some goals that all of our pin hitters hit over .200. They did it. One of goals is one of our middles gets double-digit kills, and they got it. We hit almost .300 as a team, and that's going to win you matches. I'm very happy with the way they executed as a group tonight and came back from a tough loss last night."

Next up
Georgia Southern caps a three-match homestand against South Carolina State Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. in Hanner Fieldhouse.

Georgia Southern Athletics provides current information on all its sports through its official website, GSEagles.com, which is fully responsive across all mobile devices. Information on Eagle athletics can also be found through social media channels facebook.com/GSAthletics, twitter.com/GSAthletics and Instagram.com/GSAthletics. To purchase tickets to Georgia Southern athletics events, visit GSEagles.com/tickets.

In order to expedite entry and provide a safe environment for all patrons and participants, Georgia Southern Athletics has implemented a Clear Bag Policy for all ticketed sporting events, effective Aug. 1, 2017. Fans can find the complete policy as well as an FAQ section at GSEagles.com/ClearBag.