Powell's Career Day Leads Eagles to DEACtown Invitational Championship

Sunday, September 13

Winston-Salem, N.C.

11:30 a.m.

Georgia Southern University

5-4,0-0Sun Belt

East Carolina University

5-4,0-0American

Team	1	2	3	Final F
Ga. Southern	25	25	25	3
East Carolina	17	15	16	0

Powell's Career Day Leads Eagles to DEACtown Invitational Championship

9/13/2026 1:47:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — Georgia Southern defeated East Carolina 3-0 (25-17, 25-15, 25-16) on Sunday. The Eagles hit .282 with 44 kills, compared with 29 kills and a .051 hitting percentage for East Carolina. Maddie Cugino and Beka Pfefferkorn were selected to the DEACtown Invitational All-Tournament team, after the Eagles were crowned tournament champions on Sunday.

Anna Powell led the Eagles with 13 kills while hitting .357 and added nine digs. Reagan Barth finished with 11 kills, 12 digs, four blocks and a service ace. Maddie Cugino recorded a team-high 21 digs and added six assists. Kayla Knowles tallied seven blocks, all on block assists.

HOW IT HAPPENED
First Set
- The Eagles moved in front early and used Reagan Barth's serve to stretch the lead to 12-6, with Barth adding an ace and Anna Powell delivering consecutive kills.
- East Carolina trimmed the margin to 17-12 before Lexi Duffy answered with a kill, and Alex Myers followed with a serving run that included an ace and helped push the Eagles ahead 22-12.
- East Carolina made a late push to 23-17, but a service error gave the Eagles set point before Powell finished the 25-17 set with a kill from Sam Bowron.

Second Set
- The Eagles built an 8-4 lead behind kills from Reagan Barth, Kayla Knowles and Anna Powell, along with a block by Beka Pfefferkorn and Alex Myers.
- East Carolina moved from 12-8 to 12-11, but the Eagles stayed in front and later reached 17-13 after a Powell kill, an East Carolina attack error and a Gabby Babinski kill.
- The Eagles followed with six straight points to extend the lead to 23-13, with Powell serving five straight points that included kills from Barth and Babinski, a Barth-Myers block and a Powell ace.
- Alex Myers put down a kill for set point, and Barth closed the 25-15 set with a kill from Lexi Duffy.

Third Set
- Kills by Reagan Barth and Pfefferkorn helped the Eagles build a 4-1 lead, before East Carolina won six of the next seven points to move ahead 7-5.
- The Eagles pulled even at 8-8 on a service ace by Alex Myers and again at 12-12 on an Anna Powell kill, then a Pfefferkorn kill, a Pfefferkorn-Myers block and an East Carolina attack error put the Eagles up 15-12.
- After East Carolina cut it to 16-14, Myers put down three consecutive Eagles kills; later, with Myers serving, blocks involving Gabby Babinski, Kayla Knowles and Barth helped reach 24-15 before Barth closed the 25-16 set with a kill from Maddie Cugino.

Match Notes:
- Anna Powell - Achieved a career-high of 13 kills.
- Anna Powell - Recorded a season-high hitting percentage of .357.
- Maddie Cugino - Recorded at least 21 digs in consecutive matches.
- Reagan Barth - Scored a minimum of 14 points in five straight matches.

QUOTES
"Great collective effort today, really proud of the way our group rebounded from last night's tough 5 setter. The attention to detail, the connected energy and focus on game plan was on full display. Looking forward to getting back in Hanner this week to close out non-conference."

UP NEXT
Up next, the Eagles host Kennesaw State on Thursday, Sept. 17, at 6 p.m. at Hanner Fieldhouse in Statesboro, Georgia.