ATLANTA -- Senior Amy Lusk (6'0" - outside hitter) was named Tournament MVP as Georgia State completed its own Georgia State Invitational with a 3-1 record and the tournament title following a 3-2 (30-22, 20-30, 26-30, 30-17, 15-13) victory over Fordham in the final match of the tournament.  The Panthers lost earlier in the day in five games to Chattanooga to account for the one blemish to their record on the young season.

"It wasn't always pretty, but we'll definitely take the result", said Georgia State head coach Mike Webster.  "We won't have as many matches or games to play in back-to-back days during the season as we did in these first two days; but we really found out about the character and the heart of this team with this win tonight."

The Panthers had consecutive double-doubles from Lusk on Saturday.  In the nightcap, the West Plains, Missouri native had matched a team-high with 12 kills while also earning 13 digs.  Junior LIz Schaab (6'2" - right side hitter) also had 12 kills, while fifth-year senior Ana Paula Ferreira recorded her 1,000th career kill with a 12-kill perfomance, taking on 10 digs for a double-double of her own.

Georgia State found itself in trouble after falling behind 2-1 in the best-of-five to Fordham.  The Panthers allowed the Rams to hit for a .307 attack percentage in a 30-20 loss in game two, while the Rams mustered 16 kills in the third game to take the frame 30-28.  But in game four, State rolled out to a 24-9 lead.  The Panthers led 11-7 in the pentultimate game before a 13-2 run enabled them to take control.  Lusk had six kills with zero errors on nine attempts in the fourth game, while the Panthers threw up three blocks for points thanks to two block assists each for sophomore Jocelyn Waldern (6'0" - middle hitter) and Schaab and a solo block by Lusk. 

In the final frame of the tournament, the Panthers led just 6-5 before a Waldern kill and an ace for redshirt freshman Audrey Cantrell (5'6" - defensive specialist) gave the Panthers the 8-5 lead.  Fordham would come right back though, and after a kill by Kailee May, the Rams had tied the score at 11-all.  State regained the lead briefly before Fordham scored the next two points in a row to take their second lead of the fifth game at 13-12.  Undaunted, the Panthers responded with the final run of the match.  Waldern's fourth kill of the game and ninth of the match evened the score back up at 13-all.  Lusk then served up an ace to give State match point and force Fordham into a timeout.  Off the timeout, the final attack of the evening by the Rams landed outside the court and touched off a celebration for the team in white as Georgia State took game five 15-13 and the title of Georgia State Invitational Champions.

State played a five-game affair earlier in the day as well, falling to Chattanooga in five games.  A defensive battle, the Panthers had 110 digs as a unit but couldn't top the 124 digs bumped back into the air by the Lady Mocs.

Ferreira and Lusk both put up big numbers for State in the loss.  Ferreira had 18 kills, 19 digs, and eight total blocks while Lusk had 20 kills and a career-high 30 digs.  Freshman Emily Dewey (5'4" - libero/defensive specialist) set a personal season-high with 22 digs on the afternoon.

But all of State's digs wouldn't be enough to stop the offensive display by All-Invitational team member Leslee Ball.  In a remarkable individual performance, Ball had 27 kills with just one error in 50 attacks for a whopping .520 attack percentage.  She also collected 16 digs for a double-double.  The biggest defensive display of the tournament though came from Lara Newberry.  Newberry recorded a building-record 45 digs in the five-game affair. 

Four players were in double-figures in kills for State, as Ferreira and Lusk were joined by Waldern (10) and Schaab (10).  Sophomore setter Noelle Boyd recorded a double-double of her own with 58 assists and 12 digs.

Play started on the second day of the Invitational at 9:30 a.m. and didn't end until just after 10 p.m.  That was mostly due to the three five-game matches on the day - Georgia State's pair and UCF's five-game victory over Chattanooga.  UCF also played in the first match of the day, in which they fell to Invitational Runner-Up East Tennessee State 3-1.  ETSU was the only team to go undefeated on day two, sweeping Fordham 3-0 in the third match on a long day of volleyball.

The Panthers have started the season 3-1 for the first time under Coach Webster.  They'll look to improve on that record Tuesday afternoon when they host Auburn University at 5:30 p.m. at the Georgia State Sports Arena.

All-Invitational Team