ATLANTA– Georgia Southern volleyball (17-4, 7-3 Sun Belt) extended its consecutive sets-won streak to 12 after a sweep of Georgia State (5-16, 2-8 SBC), winning 25-19, 25-21, 27-25 on Saturday afternoon.
"[It was] a great battle today, I'm proud of our group for coming away with the win," head coach
Chad Willis said. "We weren't as clean as we were last night, and State brought a little more energy today. We talked in the pregame about staying the course and staying connected. We got some clutch serving and passing to close out the match and win the weekend."
The first set was in the favor of the Panthers until a late 7-0 run provided a key 25-19 win. Three consecutive aces by freshman
Reagan Barth put the Eagles up 24-19, followed by a set-sealing block assist by
Jillian Gray and
Ailie Hair.
GS once again fell down late but used another run to regain the lead. Down 21-19, a timely 6-0 spread featuring consecutive block assists by Gray and Hair put the Eagles up 22-21, and Gray followed with an emphatic kill to win 25-21.
In the final stanza, the Eagles were up 12-7, but the home team had a response, knotting the game at 12. Willis turned to the bench, bringing in
Paige Powers, who recorded seven kills on nine attempts after entering the game. She was a large part of coming back from down 22-20 to earn the extra-point 27-25 win.
Barth (12),
Chamblee Russell (10) and Powers (7) highlighted the attack for the Eagles, while
Callaway Cason recorded her second double-double in the last three games with 20 assists and 10 digs.
Ashlyn Lovett's 15 digs led the way, and Hair's five total blocks once again were a match-high.
The Eagles have won four games in a row and six of the last eight matches to improve to 17-4, heading to the road once again for a big weekend at James Madison beginning on Friday.