STATESBORO– Georgia Southern volleyball (18-6, 8-5 Sun Belt) bounced back from a tough weekend in a big way, dominating Appalachian State (13-11, 4-9 SBC) in straight sets on Friday.

"I'm proud of the effort tonight, we were consistent on offense all game, and our setters did a great job of opening it up on offense for us," head coach Chad Willis said. "I thought our defense also did a great job tonight, and we played clean, which is what we always talk about."

The first set was highly contested, as the Mountaineers got to within one at 24-23, but a timely kill by Paige Powers sealed it for the home team. The Eagles won 25-23 on the strength of eight kills by Reagan Barth.

It was all Eagles after the first set. The Mountaineers made it 10-9 before GS went on a 3-0 run thanks to a pair of attack errors by the visitors. The Eagles closed the set on a 5-0 run, as a Jordan Christy tap over the net made it a 25-15 win.

The third set was very similar to the second. Deadlocked at ten, the Eagles used an impressive 8-1 run to sprint ahead 18-11. Barth, Ailie Hair and Jillian Gray each had a pair of kills as the Eagles settled it down and won 25-14.

Barth's 14 kills were a match-high, further cementing her as one of the best freshmen in the conference. Gray had ten, stepping up nicely on the right side for the Eagles.

"A lot of credit goes to our defense tonight for putting us in position to do well," Gray said. "It always helps when they're doing that, because we can find the floor pretty easily."

Kirsten Barrett led the way with 28 assists, while Ashlyn Lovett was active on the defensive side, recording 17 digs.

The win was the Eagles' 18th of the season, a new high watermark during the Willis era. One more conference win would tie the Eagles' most in the Sun Belt, moving to 11-3 at home.

The Eagles will honor their seniors on Saturday at 1:00 p.m. with another matchup against the Mountaineers.