Eagles Secure First Win with Sweep of Prairie View

Friday, September 4

Statesboro, Ga.

6 p.m.

Georgia Southern University

1-3,0-0Sun Belt

Prairie View A&M

0-5,0-0SWAC

Team	1	2	3	Final F
Prairie View	10	20	20	0
Ga. Southern	25	25	25	3

9/4/2026 8:34:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

STATESBORO, Ga. — Georgia Southern defeated Prairie View 3-0 Friday at Hanner Fieldhouse, taking the sets 25-10, 25-20 and 25-20. The Eagles used an 8-0 run in the opening set to move from 12-6 to 20-6. The Eagles hit .344 with 42 kills, seven service aces and 8.5 total blocks, while Prairie View finished at .138 with 31 kills.

HOW IT HAPPENED
First Set
- The Eagles built an early 8-4 lead behind kills from Beka Pfefferkorn, Kayla Knowles, Anna Powell and Alex Myers, along with a Lexi Duffy ace.
- After Prairie View moved the score to 12-6, the Eagles scored eight straight points, including seven with Bella Ekeler serving. The stretch included back-to-back Ekeler aces, blocks involving Reagan Barth, Kayla Knowles and Pfefferkorn, and kills from Pfefferkorn and Knowles.
- Prairie View scored two straight after the run, but the Eagles finished the set with kills from Knowles, Powell, Pfefferkorn and Myers to take it 25-10.

Second Set
- After Prairie View moved ahead 4-3, the Eagles scored five of the next six points, with Gabby Babinski tying the set on a kill and adding block help during the push to an 8-5 lead.
- The Eagles extended the advantage to 15-7 behind kills from Kayla Knowles and Reagan Barth, along with Prairie View errors, and later moved ahead 20-13.
- Prairie View cut into the margin late, scoring three straight to make it 22-18 and later pulling within 23-20.
- Pfefferkorn answered with a kill to bring up set point, and a Prairie View attack error closed the Eagles' 25-20 set win.

Third Set
- Prairie View scored the first two points on Iyonna Sherwood kills, but the Eagles worked back with kills from Pfefferkorn and Anna Powell and later moved ahead 7-5 on a Mayte Camacho ace.
- Prairie View went back in front 12-9 before the Eagles answered with kills from Reagan Barth, Amelia Robinson, Powell and Alex Myers to tie the set, then took a 15-14 lead on a Prairie View attack error.
- After Prairie View pulled within 17-16, kills from Gabby Babinski and Robinson pushed the Eagles ahead 19-16. Pfefferkorn added two late kills, Maddie Cugino served an ace, and a Prairie View bad set finished the Eagles' 25-20 set win.

Anna Powell led the Eagles with nine kills and 10.5 points, adding one ace and one block assist. Maddie Cugino recorded 16 digs, five assists and one ace. Ekeler finished with 19 assists, seven digs and two aces. Kayla Knowles converted five kills on six attacks for an .833 hitting percentage and added three total blocks.

Game Notes:
- Team - Achieved a season-high hitting percentage of .344 in the match.
- Team - Totaled 8.5 blocks in the match, exceeding their season average of 6.67.
- Team - Maintained a streak of at least 42 kills in two consecutive matches.
- Team - Georgia Southern is a perfect 4-0 in the third set through four matches.

UP NEXT
Up next, the Eagles host Radford on Saturday, Sept. 5, at 2 p.m. at Hanner Fieldhouse in Statesboro, Georgia.