STATESBORO – Mya Wilson tallied 25 kills and 11 blocks on the day as Georgia Southern split a pair of Sun Belt Conference volleyball matches with Troy Thursday in Hanner Fieldhouse.

Troy won the morning match 3-0 (25-13, 25-22, 25-22), while the Eagles returned the favor in the nightcap, winning 3-0 (25-20, 25-21, 25-21). The victory coupled with Appalachian State's loss at Coastal Carolina gives Georgia Southern the fifth seed in the East Division in next week's Sun Belt Tournament.

Eagles of the Day
Wilson hit .388 combined for the day, while Chamblee Russell posted 17 kills, 18 digs and seven blocks in the two matches. Rebekah Farthing tallied 33 digs on the day, including 21 in the second match, and Madison Brown posted 63 assists and 11 digs. Hannah McGlockton posted seven kills, and Baylor Bumford collected six kills and seven blocks in the nightcap.

Key Moments – Match 1
Wilson posted three kills and McGlockton had another as the Eagles (3-9, 3-9) used a 5-1 run to open a 15-10 cushion in the second set. With Georgia Southern leading 20-15, Troy (10-5, 10-5) won six consecutive points and nine of the next 10 to take control of the set. Tori Hester started the run with two straight kills and Caitlin Cooper tallied consecutive solo blocks before Natalie Hummel and Amara Anderson each served an ace. 

Key Moments – Match 2
Leading 19-18 in the second set, Georgia Southern went on a 5-1 run, capped by a solo block from Lauren Hager and a combined block by Hager and Bumford. Troy scored the next two to trim the margin to 24-21, but Bumford put down a ball to end the set. Ahead by two points late in the third, Georgia Southern scored four of the next five points with the help of kills by Hager, Bumford and McGlockton and another block by Hager and Bumford that made the margin 24-19.

Quotables from head coach Chad Willis
"It was pretty much a Jekyll and Hyde-type situation. This morning, we struggled to get into any sort of rhythm offensively or defensively, and honestly, I thought we didn't play with a lot of urgency in the morning match. We talked a lot about that after the match this morning, about coming back tonight and really trying to set a tone, mainly on the defensive side of the ball, to let that generate some good offensive opportunities. We dug 27 balls in set 1, and in that moment, I thought with that kind of effort level and urgency, we were going to be able to put ourselves in a position to grab a win. I'm proud of our team for bouncing back and bringing that effort and energy in the nightcap happy that they can see the fruit of that."

On tomorrow's match
"Based off of the results tonight, we're now officially the five seed going into next week, so our pool is pretty much set. So tomorrow, it's treating it as another opportunity to get better. We've talked about wanting to be able to take care of series at home so now it's an opportunity at 1-1 to try to grab that series win against a solid Troy team, who is sitting at No. 2 in the East right now, and that will help give us some confidence building towards the conference tournament next week."

Next Up
The Eagles and Trojans finish the three-match series Friday at 1 p.m. in Hanner Fieldhouse.