STATESBORO– Georgia Southern volleyball (5-0) averaged 20.7 digs per set in an impressive three-set win over Pacific (3-2), who took a lead late in all three sets but couldn't fend off the attack of the home team.
"Hats off to Pacific, they came in and pressured us where they needed to," head coach
Chad Willis said. "I thought they did a great job giving us fits from the service line. We got a little high error early, but I'm proud of the resiliency of this group, they stayed the course."
Pacific shut down the Eagles for a significant portion of the first set, leading by as much as 17-12 at one point, but the Eagles never wilted in their effort. A quick 3-0 run - punctuated by a clutch block from
Alex Myers and
Maggie Sale - cut the deficit to 18-17.
The Eagles regained momentum in the set after a Tigers service error.
Lydia Seymour slammed a kill to give them the lead, and Myers' ace extended that.
Sam Bowron and
Reagan Barth both had kills to get to set point, which the Eagles took on an attack error, winning 25-20.
The second frame was a prime example of the Eagles' resiliency throughout. Despite tying it at 16 on
Maddie Cugino's first kill of the season on an overpass, GS fell behind 19-16 and even 23-19 before mounting a comeback.
However, three Tiger attack errors and a pair of Barth kills got the Eagles back in front.
Maggie Sale's kill brought them to the brink and the fans to their feet, following by winning on another Tigers attack error 26-24.
Once again falling down a few points late in the set, more attack errors gave the Eagles second life.
Kirsten Barrett had a kill followed by three errors from Pacific's Olivia Keller, making it a 23-21 affair. It was Barth who pushed the Eagles to the finish line, knocking in consecutive kills to win 25-22 and seal the third straight sweep for Georgia Southern.
Cugino had a standout effort on the defensive side of the ball, tying her career-high with 25 digs - 8.33 per set. She added six assists and her first career kill to emphasize a strong night.
Barth (15), Bowron (career-high 13) and Seymour (10) had double-digit kills, with Seymour hitting .450 on 20 swings.
"We have so many powerful weapons on offense, it's insane," Seymour said. "The other block has no idea what's going on, it can be someone different every night, and tonight happened to be my night."
Barrett recorded a double-double in the win with 32 assists and 12 digs, moving 28 assists from becoming the eighth Eagle to reach 2,000 in her career.
"I don't think KB was pleased with her performance last night, and we saw a great response from her," Willis said. "When we couldn't get our middles or right side going, she stepped up and decided to be an offensive weapon."
Willis earned his 95th career win and could reach 100 as early as 9/18 against South Carolina State.
Mercer will be the final test of the Eagle Invitational at 1:00 p.m. Sunday.
