STATESBORO- Georgia Southern volleyball (14-1, 4-0 SBC) used a season-high 16 total blocks to survive a five-set marathon over Troy (7-9, 2-4), winning its 13th consecutive match 3-2 on Thursday.

"[Winning a match like tonight] just shows the resiliency of this group," head coach Chad Willis said. "We haven't really been talking about the set record at all. After losing that first set, I was impressed with the response in set two, which shows you how dialed in this group is. They don't let things get frazzled too easily. It took a total team effort tonight, especially on the offensive end."

The Eagles struggled to open the first set, falling down 3-0, and just never could find their footing. GS never led by more than one, and a 4-0 run by Troy tied at 19 spelled the end to an impressive 28 consecutive sets won as the Trojans took the first frame - one shy of equaling the program record of 29 set in 1993.

The Eagles locked back in for the second set, hitting a gaudy .476 (11-1-21) and taking the frame 25-14. Jordan Christy recorded a block and a kill consecutively to go up 20-8, and the Eagles never looked back, winning on a Trojans service error.

Troy and the Eagles similarly fought hard in the third set, and despite an early 8-3 advantage for the home team after a Lydia Seymour block, the Trojans stormed back to take a 17-15 lead.

After a timeout, the Eagles flipped the script. Maggie Sale tied the game at 21 with a kill and then followed with a set-sealing block to win 25-22 and go up 2-1 in the match.

After going up 3-0 to begin the fourth frame, Troy sprinted ahead with a 9-1 run. The Eagles fought their way back, tying things on a Sale kill at 13 apiece, but Troy eventually pulled away, winning 25-22 once more. Both teams hit above .320 in the frame.

The Eagles regained control in the decisive fifth set. Jillian Gray's ace made it 7-4 and forced a Troy timeout, and despite pushing ahead 9-4, Troy clawed back to even things at ten. GS got back on top and stayed there with Reagan Barth emphatically closing out the third set with a kill, winning 15-12 and the match 3-2.

Four Eagles had double-digit kills, as Gray paced the Eagles with 14, joined by Sale (11), Barth (11) and Paige Powers (10). Gray also contributed four blocks, adding three assists, eight digs and two aces.

"We did a good job of staying the course, especially tonight with going back and forth in the sets and going past 20 in [four of five] sets," Gray said. "It was a great environment to play in and great to pull that one out."

The Eagles notched a season-high 16 blocks and 11 solo blocks, including career-highs from Seymour (8, four solo, four assists) and Sale (6, five solo, one assist).

Kirsten Barrett recorded a season-high 42 helpers along with three aces, and Ashlyn Lovett headed up the defensive crew with 28 digs.

The Eagles now have won 13 consecutive games, tied for the longest winning streak the team has had since 2012, where it also won 13 straight from 10/6-11/17/12 and six from tying the program-long winning streak of 19 set in 2003.

Georgia Southern will travel to Boone next weekend to take on Appalachian State on Friday and Saturday looking to keep the streak alive.