Volleyball Season Preview: Eagles Are Hungry to Take the Next Step

Schedule | Roster | Buy Tickets | Bash in the Boro

STATESBORO – When the dust had settled and the tears had been wiped away and the season-ending embraces had finished following Georgia Southern’s five-set loss to UTA in the 2021 Sun Belt Championship quarterfinals, the Eagles left the floor and headed to the locker room with a different feeling than previous tourney losses.

It was that punch-to-the-gut feeling competitors get when they realize if they had made just one more play, the match could have gone the other way. Instead of feeling they could have, the Eagles felt they should have won.

“When you look at the quarterfinal match against UTA, being down 2-0 and winning 3 and 4 and having a lead in 5, and the difference between 2020 and last year is in 2020, we were just happy to be there, whereas, when we left the court last year, you could just tell that there was a sour, bitter taste in their mouth because there was unfinished business,” says Georgia Southern coach Chad Willis. “That carried itself into the spring, and I thought we were really productive not only from a training perspective, but from a culture perspective as well - everything we talk about in regards to who we are and what we're about every day.”

Georgia Southern finished the 2021 campaign with a 17-11 record, the most wins for the program since the 2013 season, and their nine Sun Belt victories were the most since joining the league in 2014. Georgia Southern returns 15 letterwinners, including 2021 first-team All-Sun Belt selection Baylor Bumford and Freshman of the Year Ashlyn Lovett, and added three transfers and two freshmen to the 2022 roster. The Eagles were picked third in the East Division in the Sun Belt Preseason Coaches Poll, and Bumford garnered preseason all-league accolades.

The momentum has been building since Willis, now in his fourth season, took over the program. This season may very well be the first during his tenure that the Eagles know if they play their best, it will be good enough to win every time they take the court in the Sun Belt Conference. In other words, no matter who they are playing, if they are taking care of business, they do not need a team to have an off night to win.

“We talked about it a lot this spring that we're not that punching bag for teams anymore, so the expectation has shifted within our culture to now being a team that goes into matches expecting to win and knowing that we work hard enough and we're talented enough to really compete with anybody,” says Willis. “We have the personnel, we have the culture, we have a team that's hungry and plays with a chip on its shoulder. I think there's a fine line between wanting to win and being willing to win, and there's no question in my mind that we've had a group for a while that wants to win, but I feel like specifically with this group, there's a strong desire and willingness to win. That means they're taking care of everything they need to take care of on and off the court to maximize our opportunity to compete at a high level.”

The Sun Belt lost two programs and added four in James Madison, Marshall, Old Dominion and Southern Miss, and the league slate features Friday and Saturday matches against the same opponent. The league is separated into East and West Divisions, and teams will play two matches against each team in its division and four matches against teams in the opposite division. League standings and Sun Belt Tournament seeding will be determined by each team’s record inside its own division, and all 14 teams will play in the league’s championship Nov. 16, in Foley, Alabama.

Just as he has in the past, Willis plans to rely on the Eagles’ depth, especially with the back-to-back contests and short turnaround time in Sun Belt play. Every student-athlete on the roster will need to be ready when their number is called, and the opportunities for playing time will be plentiful.

“That's where how we approach practice is important,” says Willis. “You understand that we're going to compete an awful lot, and there are going to be opportunities for you. And your opportunity may come in a role you didn't see coming, and the great thing about this roster is there is so much versatility. Whether it be systems or situational substitutions, we have a ton of flexibility and versatility that we feel can wreak havoc. It's going to be really important to have that ‘we mentality’ - all hands on deck - because who knows what we're going to need from a given night to the next afternoon.”

The Eagles are slated to open the 2022 season by hosting the Bash in the Boro Aug. 26-27, in Hanner Fieldhouse. Season tickets for the Eagles' 14 home matches can be purchased for $50, and single-game tickets are on sale for $8 for adults and $5 for youth ages 4-12. All seats are general admission.

Setters

#16 Grace Slader
#18 Kirsten Barrett
#20 Callaway Cason

Notes
- The Eagles will have a new setter for the first time in four seasons as Madison Brown graduated and is now on the bench as a volunteer assistant coach.
- Callaway Cason is a transfer from Ole Miss and Kirsten Barrett is a freshmen from Cleveland, Ohio, who earned first-team all-state honors as a senior.
- Cason posted 39 assists and eight digs in the first three sets of the Blue vs. White scrimmage Saturday, and Barrett collected 19 assists, six digs and two blocks.
- Grace Slader played in 14 matches, averaging 8.7 assists, and earned Sun Belt Setter of the Week honors once last season.

Willis Quote
“Graduating Madison Brown certainly is a loss in terms of leadership and experience, but she's back with us as a volunteer, which really benefits our team having her experience and leadership still present. We're fortunate to have three quality setters who have the ability to compete and play at an elite level. Grace, Callaway and Kirsten compliment each other so well and each understand expectations, game management and what we're trying to do offensively. The Sun Belt is a scoring league, and we feel confident with the ball control group and attackers we have returning, we're going to be able to manufacture our fair share of points."

Defensive Specialists/Liberos

#1 Ashlyn Lovett
#2 Meredith Eckard
#3 Abby Strong
#6 Rebekah Farthing
#8 Ainsley Clifford
#12 Paige Collins
#22 Logan Jones

Notes
- Ashlyn Lovett was named Sun Belt Freshman of the Year after averaging 4.72 digs per set, good for fourth in the league. The sophomore was named Defensive Player of the Week twice.
- Farthing was one of three Eagles to play in all 28 matches and reached double figures in digs in 14 matches. She was fourth on the team with 18 aces.
- Paige Collins posted 13 aces and averaged 1.7 digs a set, while Meredith Eckard tallied 11 aces and averaged 1.4 digs a set. 

Willis Quote
“In terms of depth, it's the most solid group we have top to bottom in the sense that all seven can impact us in a positive way, especially when it comes to being on the court. Clearly, Ashlyn Lovett showed why she's one of the best returning Liberos in the league, but the level of competition within that position group has manifested itself into taking more of a leadership role within the entire scope of what we're trying to do as a team. All of them come in with a great attiude and work hard. They get after each other, but it doesn't affect personal relationships off the court, and I think that really sets a tone for everybody else on our team in terms of what it looks like to compete. All of them have the ability to be impactful for us on the court, and I'm looking forward to seeing how they compete and continue to make us better."

Middles

#11 Megan Vickery
#13 Baylor Bumford
#14 Grace Underwood

Notes
- Baylor Bumford was named first-team all-conference and earned Preseason All-Sun Belt honors.
- Megan Vickery played in the final seven matches and tallied six kills and three blocks in each match of the Sun Belt Tournament.
- Grace Underwood is a fifth-year transfer from Delaware, and she posted nine kills in the Blue vs. White scrimmage Saturday.

Willis Quote
“Getting Baylor back for her fifth year and coming off the season she had last year, she is playing at such a high level. Megan Vickery was in the gym with her every single day this spring, learning how to get better, learning how to be a better leader, learning how to practice better and approach the weight room better. Baylor really just elevated Megan to a whole new level to where she may have had the best spring of anyone on the team in terms of growth and what she was able to do." 

"Grace brings some physicality at 6-foot-3. She is a tremendous blocker - she reads the play really well, understands and puts herself in really good situations to tag balls and get blocks. She adds tremendous value on the defensive end and a little more range on the offensive end as well."
 

Hitters

#4 Jillian Gray
#5 Jordan Christy
#7 Emily Jarome
#9 Chamblee Russell
#10 Maggie Sale
#15 Robin Rosser
#21 Paige Powers

Notes
- Chamblee Russell was fourth on the team with 2.15 kills per set, while Paige Powers averaged 1.67 kills per set.
- Robin Rosser averaged 1.51 kills and hit .211. She matched a season-high 11 kills and posted a season-high four blocks vs. ULM in the Sun Belt Tourney, hitting .364 in the match.
-  Emily Jarome is a fifth-year transfer from Towson, where she led the Tigers to three CAA Tournament Championships and subsequent NCAA Tournament appearances. She was a two-time second-team All-CAA selection and named first-team all-league as a senior and enters the season with 1,034 career kills.

Willis Quote
“We've got a pin group that understands what our priorites are offensively and know that they're going to have to carry a pretty big load for us this year. It's a competitive group top to bottom. We worked a ton in the spring on getting them more confident and hitting with more range and being able to get their hand on the ball and understand situationlly when can I score, what can I do to cause trouble, how can I be a more efficient attacker, how can I be a more efficient out of system attacker?"

“The addition of Emily as a grad transfer and 5th year player will be so beneficial for our team and that position group. The pedigree and championship experience she has from winning titles to playing in the NCAA Tournament will be incredibly important to our locker room as we're trying to make that jump.”