STATESBORO– Georgia Southern volleyball (6-0) stretched its win streak to six, taking down Mercer (1-6) in straight sets on Sunday afternoon.
"It was a solid week for us at home," head coach
Chad Willis said. "We powered through those high-error stretches, and the quality of our team continues to get better. I like that we're getting tested in areas that allow us to figure things out."
The Eagles trailed early in set one, but
Reagan Barth and
Sam Bowron each contributed kills in a 5-0 run to take an 18-12 lead. The Bears answered with a 4-0 run, but
Lydia Seymour made sure there would be no comeback, slamming a pair of kills to win 25-21.
Mercer struggled to overcome any errors they made in the second frame.
Gabby Babinski made the kill to go up 8-3 and the Eagles never looked back, with
Kirsten Barrett sealing a 25-16 win. The Eagles hit .238 during the set.
The third set was just as dominant as the second. Leading 8-5, freshman
Anna Powell slammed four consecutive kills to push it to a commanding 12-5 advantage.
GS did not let the Bears get much closer as
Maggie Sale had two of the final three points, winning the final set 25-13 and the match 3-0.
In the fourth consecutive sweep for the Eagles, it was
Reagan Barth who led the way - securing a double-double with 13 kills and 12 digs and adding three aces. She had a strong weekend, averaging just over four kills per set.
"I'm feeling great out there, this team has such a great ability to score," Barth said. "The identity of our team is playing through our defense, and the more we do that, the better we will continue to get."
On the defensive side,
Maddie Cugino continued to excel with 13 digs in the three sets, and
Alex Myers had three blocks to lead the Eagles. Barth earned tournament MVP honors with Seymour and Cugino joining her on the team along with Sophia Henry of Mercer.
GS will head to Athens for a big tournament featuring the Bulldogs. The first game will be Friday against FIU.