Barth Leads the Way as Eagles Defeat Kennesaw State, 3-1, Thursday

Thursday, September 17

Statesboro, Ga.

6 p.m.

Georgia Southern University

6-4,0-0Sun Belt

Kennesaw State

5-5,0-0CUSA

Team	1	2	3	4	Final F
Kennesaw St.	25	21	25	17	1
Ga. Southern	27	25	21	25	3

Box Score (PDF)

Barth Leads the Way as Eagles Defeat Kennesaw State, 3-1, Thursday

9/17/2026 9:14:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

STATESBORO, Ga. — Georgia Southern defeated Kennesaw St. 3-1 on Thursday at Hanner Fieldhouse. The Eagles hit .313 in the fourth set, when they turned a 12-13 deficit into a 17-14 lead before closing the match with a 25-17 set win.

Reagan Barth led the Eagles with 18 kills and 19.5 points while hitting .395 and adding 12 digs. Pfefferkorn finished with 16 kills, hit .353 and added two blocks. Ekeler recorded a team-high 22 assists with two service aces and nine digs. Maddie Cugino collected a team-high 13 digs and added four assists and a service ace.

HOW IT HAPPENED
First Set
- The Eagles scored the first two points on a Beka Pfefferkorn kill and a block by Pfefferkorn and Kayla Knowles, and Lexi Duffy's ace later tied it at 6-6 before Kennesaw St. moved ahead 11-7.
- The Eagles cut the gap to 11-10 on a Gabby Babinski kill, but Kennesaw St. rebuilt separation with kills by Olivia Burrage and Ashlyn Anderson and an Ashley Theiss block to lead 19-15.
- After Kennesaw St. led 22-19, kills by Reagan Barth and Anna Powell cut the margin to one, and a Pfefferkorn/Alex Myers block tied the set at 23-23.
- Kennesaw St. reached set point at 24-23, but Powell tied it with a kill, Barth put the Eagles ahead 25-24, and Powell and Myers delivered the final two kills after a 25-25 tie to finish the set 27-25.

Second Set
- The Eagles moved ahead 8-4 early, with Pfefferkorn, Anna Powell and Lexi Duffy recording kills during the opening stretch.
- After Kennesaw St. got back within 8-6, Reagan Barth and Pfefferkorn put down kills and Bella Ekeler added an ace to push the Eagles to 11-6; Kennesaw St. later narrowed it to 13-11.
- The Eagles rebuilt the cushion to 19-13 behind kills from Alex Myers, Barth and Powell and consecutive Mayte Camacho aces, then reached 24-18 on a Pfefferkorn kill and a Maddie Cugino ace. Kennesaw St. answered with three straight points before an Ava Garner attack error closed the set at 25-21.

Third Set
- The Eagles started with three straight points and later moved ahead 9-5 on a Gabby Babinski kill.
- Kennesaw St. tied the set at 10-10, but the Eagles responded with four straight points, including a Reagan Barth kill, to lead 14-10.
- Kennesaw St. moved back in front with a run from 16-15 to 19-16, then stretched the margin to 23-18.
- The Eagles cut the deficit to 23-21 behind two Alex Myers points and a block by Babinski and Myers, but Kennesaw St. scored the final two points to take the set 25-21.

Fourth Set
- Kennesaw St. moved ahead 7-2 before the Eagles won seven of the next eight points, using an Ekeler ace, two Reagan Barth kills and a Pfefferkorn kill to move in front 9-8.
- After Kennesaw St. went back ahead 13-12, the Eagles took five of the next six points behind kills from Barth, Alex Myers and Gabby Babinski, then added a Kayla Knowles-Barth block to make it 18-14.
- The Eagles kept control late with kills from Knowles, Barth and Pfefferkorn, and Pfefferkorn delivered the final two Eagles points in a 25-17 set win.

Match Notes:
- Team - Totaled 6 serve aces in the match, surpassing their season average of 4.44.

QUOTES
Chad Willis pointed to the Eagles' ability to work through uneven stretches in the win over Kennesaw St., saying, "You know, good result. Proud of our, our, uh, you know, effort there to fight back in the first set and then to close it out there in the 4th, but just didn't think we were very clean with our, with our touch tonight, whether it be first contact, specifically serve receive, or in the in the reboot and transition. So I mean credit to Kennesaw. I thought they did some things to disrupt us offensively, but you know our kids stayed the course. You know, we talked about it. You know, sometimes you got to learn how to win matches like that, and so I'm proud of our group, and we just got to learn from that and move that forward into the rest of the weekend."

UP NEXT
Up next, the Eagles host Fordham on Saturday, Sept. 19, at noon at Hanner Fieldhouse in Statesboro, Georgia.