STATESBORO – Grace Underwood led four Eagles in double-digit kills with 11 and added four blocks and an ace to lead Georgia Southern to a 3-1 (25-14, 25-27, 26-24, 25-14) Sun Belt volleyball win over Georgia State Saturday afternoon in Hanner Fieldhouse. 

Eagles of the Match
Underwood hit. 688 in the match, and Emily Jarome collected 12 kills and 14 digs. Baylor Bumford registered 10 kills and two blocks, and Paige Powers finished with 12 kills.

Key Moments
With the match tied 1-1 and State owning a 24-20 lead in the third, Southern (14-6, 6-2) fought off four set points as part of a 6-0 run to win the frame 26-24. Jarome sparked the spurt with a kill, the Panthers hit out of bounds and Jarome added another kill to make the score 24-23, prompting State (5-17, 1-9) to call timeout. Bumford and Jordan Christy combined for a block out of the break, before Kirsten Barrett, who came off the bench and served the final five points of the run, tallied back-to-back aces, giving the Eagles a 2-1 lead in the match.

The Eagles broke a 5-5 tie in the fourth set with an 11-2 run as Bumford put down two kills, and Jarome's kill made the margin 16-7.

Key Stats
The Eagles hit .328 in the match, their season high for a conference match, and finished with nine more kills and 12 less errors than the Panthers.

Quotables from Coach Chad Willis
"What a battle today! I'm really proud of the effort and resiliency, especially in that third set to respond when we needed to, which built momentum going into the fourth. Offensively, we did a really nice job of being low-error, and our block and defense stepped up in big moments. Great weekend back in Hanner!"

Next up
Southern continues a four-match homestand by hosting James Madison, which occupies first place in the Sun Belt East Division, next Friday and Saturday on Dig Pink Weekend. Friday's contest begins at 6 p.m., Saturday's match starts at noon and both contests will air on ESPN+.