ATHENS, Ga.– Georgia Southern volleyball (7-1) was up 2-0 in the match and 22-20 in set three, but ultimately could not close out Georgia (7-1), who won the last three sets in a reverse sweep at Stegeman Coliseum.
"We played at a really high level for three sets, and had poise in the red zone in sets one and two," head coach
Chad Willis said. "Found ourselves with a two-point lead there in set three and just couldn't close it out. There were some situations that we can learn from going forward, but I'm super proud of our group for staying dialed in against a physical team in a tough road environment."
Georgia controlled the early portion of set one, but the Eagles didn't let that affect them. Trailing 15-11, a
Reagan Barth kill capped a 4-0 run to tie the set. Her consecutive aces put the team in the driver's seat up 20-17. A pair of Bulldog errors with the Eagles leading gave the first set to the visitors, winning it 25-23.
It was the Eagles who were on the offensive to begin the second frame, using kills by
Sam Bowron and
Maggie Sale to go up 14-10. Georgia battled back, even tying it at 23, but a pair of
Lydia Seymour kills and a bad set by the Bulldogs pushed it to a 27-25 Eagles win in the second.
In a hotly contested third set, GS didn't find an advantage until late, and certainly looked poised to sweep on the road.
Kirsten Barrett had her lone kill of the match to throw off the Bulldogs and lead 22-20, but the home team ripped off a clutch 5-0 run to stun them and make it a 2-1 game.
Unfortunately, the Eagles appeared to run out of gas following the third set. Hitting just .111 on their side, the Bulldogs ran away with it to win 25-19.
With all the momentum on their side, a 5-1 start to the fifth and decisive set proved too much as the Eagles fell victim to a reverse sweep.
Barth (21 kills), Barrett (career-high 53 assists) and Seymour (career-high 15 kills) were the standout performers in the loss.
Maddie Cugino (20 digs) and
Mayte Camacho (career-high 17 digs) also stepped up defensively in the five-setter.
It was the first time the Eagles had been reverse-swept in a game since the 2022 season, when they dropped the final three sets to VCU on Sept. 9, 2022.
The Bulldog Classic will wrap up on Sunday against Presbyterian.
