FOLEY, Ala. – Hannah McGlockton and Maddie Bryant each tallied 14 kills, and Georgia Southern outblocked ULM 12-4 to post a 3-1 (24-26, 25-19, 27-25, 25-12) victory over the Warhawks in the opening match of the Sun Belt Conference Volleyball Championship Thursday afternoon in the Foley Sports Complex.

The Eagles advance to the quarterfinals where they take on the West Division's second seed, UTA, at 1 p.m. ET Friday at the Foley Sports Complex. The match will air live on ESPN+.

Eagles of the Match 
Baylor Bumford collected 13 kills and six blocks, and Robin Rosser recorded 11 kills and four blocks. Madison Brown tallied 52 assists, eight digs, four blocks and two aces, and Ashlyn Lovett totaled 20 digs and four aces. Megan Vickery chipped in six kills and three blocks.

Key Moments
With the match tied 1-1, the Eagles (17-10) trailed 24-23 in the third set, but Vickery put down a deep kill to fight off set point. ULM fought off a set point following a kill by Rosser, but Bryant and Bumford collected consecutive kills to give the Eagles the set, 27-25.

After ULM (5-27) jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the fourth, Georgia Southern scored 14 of the next 16 points behind the serving of Rebekah Farthing, Paige Collins and Lovett. Bryant had three kills during the run, while Rosser and Vickery combined for two blocks and Collins and Lovett each served an ace. 

Stats of the Match
The Eagles held a 60-43 advantage in kills and an 11-6 edge in aces. It was the 16th consecutive loss for ULM, a stretch that began with a 3-1 loss to the Eagles Sept. 24 in Monroe.

Quotables from Coach Chad Willis
"It's always great to get an opening win. I thought we came out with a bit of nerves to start, which is to be expected, but we settled in and were able to control the match with first contact and on the offensive side of the ball. The energy was great all around, and we'll need to carry that and build on it moving forward."

About UTA
UTA enters Friday's match with an 11-14 record and went 9-7 in Sun Belt play. The Eagles are 0-11 all-time against the Mavs and fell 3-0 to UTA Oct. 31 in Hanner Fieldhouse in the teams' lone meeting this season. GS lost 3-1 to UTA in pool play in last year's Sun Belt Tournament; it was the teams' first postseason meeting.