Five Reach Double-Digit Digs in Eleventh Consecutive Victory for Volleyball

Friday, October 4

Huntington, WV

5:00 p.m.

Georgia Southern University

12-1,2-0Sun Belt

Marshall

9-8,0-4Sun Belt

Ga. Southern

Marshall

Photo by: AJ Henderson - Georgia Southern Athletics

Five Reach Double-Digit Digs in Eleventh Consecutive Victory for Volleyball

10/4/2024 7:42:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

Eagles record 78 digs in three-set sweep of Thundering Herd, have not lost a set since Sept. 7

HUNTINGTON, W. Va.- Almost a month to the day since its last set loss, Georgia Southern volleyball (12-1, 2-0 Sun Belt) kept right on rolling, stretching the streak to 25 straight sets and 11 straight wins in a 3-0 win at Marshall (9-8, 0-4) on Friday.

"I'm proud of our group for capping off a great weekend on the road and starting conference play 2-0," head coach Chad Willis said. "I thought we did a nice job of staying dialed into the gameplan and put pressure on Marshall from the service line and through our defense."

The Herd and Eagles battled hard in the opening set with the home team getting up 20-19, but a timely 3-0 run highlighted by back-to-back Jillian Gray kills put the Eagles up for good in the opening frame.

The Eagles hit .240 on 18 kills in the opener.

A pair of Maggie Sale kills highlighted a scorching 5-1 beginning to the second set. The Herd pushed back to make it a 10-9 deficit, but the Eagles ran right back to a five-point lead after a Jordan Christy kill.

Reagan Barth's solo block at set point closed out a dominant 25-18 win in the second stanza.

The strong performance continued in the third set. Three Barth kills in a row made it 7-2 Eagles as they started to pull away.

Barth slammed back-to-back kills to get to set point and 20 total, and Maggie Sale closed out yet another sweep with a kill of her own as the Eagles hit a strong .349 in the frame.

Barth once again shined bright in the match with her second straight double-double (20 kills, 12 digs), the first Eagle to record back-to-back since she did it in November of 2023. Paige Powers reached the double-digit kill mark with 10, followed by nine apiece from Gray and Sale.

"We got the pins moving today and played a pretty clean match offensively," Willis added. "It was a solid team effort all-around, we were connected and maintained consistent energy throughout both matches."

Ashlyn Lovett (20 digs, 10 assists) recorded her first double-double of her career as the Eagles had five with double-digit digs and 78 total. Logan Jones (14, career-high), Barth (12), Kirsten Barrett (12) and Gray (11) all passed the plateau.

Barrett's came in a double-double effort, contributing a team-high 33 assists in the win.

The Eagles have now won 25 consecutive sets to go along with eight consecutive sweeps, gunning for the program record of 29 set in 1993. Their 12 straight wins are the most in a row since 10/8-11/17/13.

Willis earned his 80th win as Georgia Southern head coach, becoming just the fourth Eagles HC to reach the plateau. He is now three behind J.B. Claiborne for third in program history, and the Eagles move to 2-0 during his tenure on his birthday.

Georgia Southern aims to break the consecutive sets won record when it takes on Troy next Thursday.