NORFOLK, Va.– Georgia Southern volleyball (12-2, 2-1 Sun Belt) passed its first road test of the Sun Belt slate, knocking down Old Dominion (9-8, 1-2 Sun Belt) 3-1 on Friday night, winning 18-25, 25-16, 25-20, 25-11 in the first-ever meeting between the two.
"Good result tonight, I thought a lot of our energy and response came from our defensive intensity which really sustained us," head coach
Chad Willis said. "We dialed in with first contact in the last three sets, which put a lot of pressure on ODU. Proud of our fight and resiliency to pick up a good road win."
Old Dominion had its best performance in the opening set, perhaps taking advantage of the home crowd, hitting above .400 and winning 25-18.
The Eagles righted the ship and proceeded to shut down the Monarchs for the remainder of the match, holding the home team to a .125 hitting percentage after the first frame. A 6-1 run to open things in the second set proved to be too much of a deficit for ODU to overcome, as the Eagles tied up things at one by winning it 25-16.
The third stanza was back-and-forth throughout, but the Eagles picked up points where it mattered, including eight kills in a career-high performance of 21 for freshman
Reagan Barth. GS went into the driver's seat in the match, winning 25-20.
In the final set, the Eagles cruised. Going up as much as 13, including a 15-4 spread to start, put the Monarchs in a huge hole. Georgia Southern took advantage of some mistakes to coast to a 25-11 victory.
Barth's 21 kills were a career and match-high, as she hit an impressive .526 while recording a double-double (21 kills, 13 digs), the fourth of the season for the outside hitter.
Jillian Gray chipped in 11 kills and three blocks, and
Ashlyn Lovett's 19 digs led the way.
The two setters for the Eagles,
Kirsten Barrett (29 assists) and
Callaway Cason (23) spread the wealth around evenly.
The Eagles improved to 12-2 and a perfect 3-0 in true road games. The two-game set will conclude on Saturday at 2:00.