Senior Christen Garcia broke Kumiko Ishiyama's Georgia State record for digs, becoming the first Panther to surpass 1,400 for a career, but the Panthers dropped a heartbreaking 3-2 match to Towson in a marathon Friday night in Baltimore.
The Panthers had 40 combined kills from juniors Ana Paula Ferreira and Amy Lusk, with Lusk taking top honors with 21. Both also completed double-doubles, as Lusk had 18 digs and Ferreira 14.
But this night from a Georgia State perspective statistically belonged to Garcia. The Valrico, Fla., native had a match-high 22 digs, collecting her record-tying and breaking digs in the latter stages of a 30-22 win in game one.
State had a chance to take control of the match, but the Tigers would fight off four game points to take game two 32-30. State led 29-26 before Towson took the next three points to even the score. The Panthers earned another game point at 30-29, but that would be the last point of the game for the Panthers, as Towson reeled off the final three to even the match.
The Tigers blew open what was a tight third game, expanding on an 18-16 lead to win 30-23. The fourth game was a tremendous show of heart by both teams. Even after the first 50 points, the match boiled down to a race to five points with the score sitting at 25-all. State led 29-28 and had a chance for the game, but a blocking error extended Towson's hopes to end the match in four. But after being called for the error on the previous point, junior Marissa Levasseur came back with a kill to give State another game point, and a Lusk kill extended the match to a deciding game with a 31-29 victory for the Panthers in the fourth.
But it was not to be for the Panthers on this night. After winning their first three five-game matches of the season, including two in CAA play, the Panthers saw a 6-4 lead quickly turn into a 9-6 deficit. After falling behind by four, the Panthers made it 12-10 off the fifth service ace of the night for Ferreira. That would prove to be the final point of the evening for the Panthers, as three consecutive kills for the Tigers ended the game 15-10 and the match 3-2.
After playing a match that went five games and 2:20 tonight, the Panthers certainly don't get any favors from the schedule makers. State is now forced to play almost 100 miles away just over 15 hours later against Delaware. Match time is set for 1:00 p.m.
