STATESBORO -  Freshman Chamblee Russell collected 20 kills and 16 digs to lead Georgia Southern to a 3-1 (25-17, 21-25, 27-25, 25-23) Sun Belt Conference volleyball win over Georgia State Friday night in Hanner Fieldhouse.

Eagles of the Match
Russell hit .250 for the Eagles (2-4, 2-4) and added a block, while Maddie Bryant posted 12 kills, 12 digs and three blocks. Madison Brown finished with 43 assists, 10 digs and an ace, and Rebekah Farthing tallied 20 digs. Senior Lauren Hager notched eight blocks, and classmate Landon Jones had 10 digs on Senior Night.

Key Stats
The third and fourth sets saw 17 ties and six lead changes combined. Georgia State recorded 94 digs as a team but committed 13 more hitting errors than Georgia Southern.

Key Moments
The Eagles had set point at 24-20 in the third, but Leah Wilcox hammered down two kills as Georgia State (4-10, 3-9) notched four in a row to tie the score. With the set tied 25-25, Russell put down a ball for the Eagles and Bryant followed it with a kill to give Southern the set, 27-25. The fourth set went the distance as well, and the score was tied at 23-23. Russell got back-to-back kills to give the Eagles the set, 25-23, and the match.

Quotables from Coach Chad Willis
On winning the close sets
"It was almost a reverse statement of what we did last week. We talked about it after last weekend, we talked about it in practice this week - that teams still have to learn how to win. That's where I'm really proud of this group because they recognized that when you put yourself in those opportunities and you don't finish, you have to trust the process and stay the course and if you keep working hard, you will figure out a way to come out on the other side. When you look at set 3 and set 4, that's exactly what that was. I'm really proud of the way they responded. I think being at home helps, but that was good to see. "

On tomorrow's fourth match against Georgia State
"It will come down to a couple things, and one will be first contact and who can win the serve and pass battle tomorrow. Georgia State did a really good job on the defensive side of the ball tonight so for us, if we can control first contact and be a little bit more aggressive from the service line, we can be in system so that we can run our offense. I thought at times tonight, we got a little predictable, but a lot of that starts with being in system."

Next Up
The teams meet for the fourth and final time tomorrow at 1 p.m. in Hanner Fieldhouse.