STATESBORO – Leah Wilcox tallied a match-high 13 kills to lead Georgia State to a 3-1 (11-25, 25-19, 25-22, 25-23) Sun Belt Conference volleyball victory over Georgia Southern Saturday afternoon in Hanner Fieldhouse.

The win gives the Panthers a split in the season series with each team winning two matches. 

Eagles of the Match
Mya Wilson tallied 12 kills and a block for the Eagles (2-5, 2-5), and Chamblee Russell collected 12 kills and eight digs. Landon Jones finished with nine digs and five aces, and Madison Brown tallied 39 assists, 13 digs and three aces. 

Key Stats
Georgia Southern tallied a season-high 12 aces and outhit the Panthers .283 to .265, but Georgia State had  11 more kills than the Eagles.

Key Moments
With the match tied 1-1, the Eagles led 22-20, but Georgia State (5-10, 4-9) rallied to win five straight points to win the set. Emma Clark was in on a block and posted a kill during the run that gave the Panthers a 2-1 advantage in the match. The Eagles trailed 23-17 in the fourth but battled back to trim the margin to 23-22 following a block by Brown and Lauren Hager. The teams traded points and trailing 24-23, the Eagles had a chance but hit a ball into the net.

Quotables from Coach Chad Willis
"It was a frustrating outcome today, especially considering how well we executed offensively. As we look back on today's match, I think what we're going to see are a few key moments late in sets 3 and 4 where we had opportunities to either extend or cut into a reasonable lead late and just couldn't find a way. I believe a lot of that right now for us is just lack of playing and reduced training opportunities. Looking at the weekend as a whole, we did a lot of really nice things we can continue to build on moving forward."

Next Up
The Eagles open a three-match set at Coastal Carolina Thursday with first serve set for 5 p.m.