ATLANTA – Mya Wilson, Maddie Bryant and Chamblee Russell each tallied nine kills, and Georgia Southern held Georgia State to .082 hitting to earn a 3-0 (25-14, 25-19, 25-22) Sun Belt Conference volleyball win over the Panthers Friday afternoon in GSU Sports Arena.

Eagles of the Match
Bryant added 10 digs and two blocks and hit .381. Russell collected four digs and two blocks, and Wilson added six blocks. Madison Brown finished with 38 assists, and Rebekah Farthing chipped in 11 digs.

Key plays
The Eagles (1-1, 1-1) scored seven straight points to overcome a 19-13 deficit in the third set as Haley Fuller tallied three kills, and Bryant added one during the run. With the score tied 22-22, Bryant put down a ball for the Eagles, and Wilson assisted on two straight blocks to win the set 25-22 and finish the match.

The Eagles came out of the gates hot in the first set and hit .367 as a team, posting 14 kills and just three errors on their way to taking a 1-0 lead in the match. State (2-5, 1-4) cut an 18-12 deficit down to 20-17 in the second set, but Southern scored the next three, on a Baylor Bumford kill and consecutive Meredith Eckard aces, to pull away.

Quotables from Coach Chad Willis
"I'm really proud of the effort to come away with a split on the opening road weekend. I thought in Thursday night's match, we did some nice things on both sides of the ball, but unforced errors got the best of us. We talked with the team last night and this morning about really dialing in on controlling our side and trusting the system. We challenged them in the locker room to come out today and set a tone, to be committed to each other and to stay the course. It was a total team effort today and overall on the weekend, I think we saw the kind of potential we have. It's going to be exciting to continue and watch this group get better."

Next Up
The Eagles open a three-match series against Troy Friday at 11 a.m. in Hanner Fieldhouse.