STATESBORO– Georgia Southern volleyball (11-1, 1-0 Sun Belt), in front of its biggest crowd of the season, opened conference play on a high note, sailing to a 3-0 victory over Arkansas State (10-3, 0-1 SBC) 25-18, 27-25, 25-17 on Friday night.

"I loved the win, but credit to Eagle Nation for coming out tonight," head coach Chad Willis said. "The energy in here was electric from the get-go. We weren't our cleanest at some points in the match, but in those moments that we needed to battle, we really got behind the crowd."

The Eagles roared out to a 20-12 advantage in the first set, and despite a pair of 3-0 runs for the opposition, emerged victorious with a 25-17 win. The home team held the Red Wolves to a .065 hitting percentage in the opening frame.

Arkansas State rallied late to tie set two at 25, but a Reagan Barth kill followed by a Paige Powers block that blew the roof off Hanner Fieldhouse gave the Eagles a 27-25 set win.

The visitors led by as much as five early, but an 8-0 run in the middle of the set for the Eagles quelled any hopes of a Red Wolves rally. Jordan Christy's 13th kill of the match made it set point, and an attack error gave the Eagles the win.

"I think having this big of a crowd gives us a lot more confidence to show what we've got," Christy said. "Especially playing clean as a team and showing that we can beat these teams."

Christy's 13 kills led all players, while Barth's 11 also were more than anyone on either side. Callaway Cason had 22 assists, while Powers and Ailie Hair each had five total blocks. Ally Barnhart also recorded four total blocks in the match.

GS held Arkansas State to a .064 hitting percentage.

In front of a season-high crowd of 687, Georgia Southern improved to 11-1, including 8-0 at home, starting Sun Belt play with a win.

The Eagles and Red Wolves will clash once more on Saturday at 1:00.