Post-tournament Note: Redshirt-junior Audrey Cantrell was named the tournament MVP. Ashley Jones and Vineece Verdun were both named to the all-tournament team as well.
Elon, N.C. - The Georgia State volleyball swept Norfolk State on Saturday afternoon, 3-0 (25-19, 25-23, 25-22) to win the Elon Invitational. After starting slow and trailing 9-3 in the first set, the Panthers rallied and never looked back.
The Panthers improved to 11-3 on the season and are off to their best start since the 2003 season when State opened the year 14-1. It also marks the best start under head coach Mike Webster who is now in his sixth season at the helm of the Panthers.
"We had a lot of very good individual performances over the weekend," commented head coach Mike Webster. "Jamiee scored her first double-double, Audrey did a great job digging the ball and Jocelyn played extremely well against Navy on Friday. As a team, we have made a lot of progress since the preseason. We have one more non-conference match on Tuesday before heading into CAA play next weekend and I think we are ready and very excited about both."
Georgia State finished the first part of their schedule with two tournament titles and a second place finish in another. State won its own tournament, the Great 8 Volleyball Challenge presented by Residence Inn-Kennesaw two weeks ago and finished second at the Hilton RTP/NCCU Invitational to start the season.
Junior Ashley Jones led the State with nine kills and seven digs after falling one dig shy of a triple-double in the Panthers earlier match of the day against Elon.
Redshirt-sophomore Vineece Verdun, who has been named to all-tournament teams in each of the last two weeks, scored nine kills and tied for the team-high with three blocks.
Sophomore Chelsea Perry finished the match with 18 assists and scored 82 assists for the weekend.
Redshirt-junior Audrey Cantrell, who is currently second in the CAA in with 4.42 digs per set, scored 13 to lead the Panthers.
True freshman Jamiee Freeman, coming off of her first career double-double earlier in the day, scored five kills and four digs.
Norfolk State fell to 2-12 on the season. Ellica Morris scored six kills, while Nicole Keesner adding 12 assists. The Panthers held Norfolk State to a -.012 hitting percentage in the loss.
Georgia State will return to the court for its final non-conference warm-up on Tuesday night. The Panthers will face Kennesaw State at 7 p.m. The match will be played at North Cobb High School due to a scheduling conflict at the Kennesaw State Convocation Center. Admission to the match will be free of charge and live stats will be provided via GeorgiaStateSports.com.
The Panthers will return home next Saturday for the CAA opener against UNC Wilmington. The match against the Seahawks will serve as the Panthers annual "Dig for the Cure" with proceeds from the match going to the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Greater Atlanta Affiliate. Donations are now being accepted. For more information, contact assistant coach Ada Bazin at 404-413-4068.
