ATLANTA -- Redshirt-junior Vineece Verdun led the Panthers with 16 kills as the Georgia State volleyball team earned a 3-1 (25-16, 24-26, 25-12, 25-18) win over Towson on Sunday afternoon in the GSU Sports Arena.
The win improved the Panthers to 9-8 on the season and 3-0 in CAA action. It marks the first time since 2003, when GSU was in the Atlantic Sun Conference, that the Panthers have opened conference play undefeated through three matches.
"The team has put in hard work and they are starting to realize that their hard work is paying off. They just have to keep it up," said head coach Tami Audia. "Our conference is very tough this year, so every night we have to go out and play hard, and we did that today."
Aside from the second set, the Panthers handled the Tigers on the strength of an 11-6 blocks advantage and a .282 team attack percentage, to the Tigers .143.
Verdun again paced the Panthers with 16 kills, while tallying six blocks, four digs and three service aces. Ashley Jones produced another double-double with a team-high 16 digs and 14 kills. Jamiee Freeman had 13 digs and five blocks, while Muki Kangwa had 10 kills, three digs and three blocks. Setter Chelsea Perry had 39 assists and freshman Emily Averbeck had three big service aces to go along with her five digs.
GSU opened the match with a 25-16 win in set one. The Panthers led from the opening serve, capitalizing routinely on a gap in the Tigers' defense that allowed GSU to drop shot after shot into the middle of the court. The Tigers closed the gap to 11-9, but that was as close as it would get in the set, as GSU ran off six of the next eight points.
Set two was the closest of the match, with neither team leading by more than two points at any point in the set. All totaled, there were 17 of the 19 tie scores in the second set and 12 of the 13 lead changes. The Panthers had set point at 24-23, but Towson ran off the remaining three points of the set to claim the set, 26-24.
The Panthers, who trailed 5-2 early in set three, used strong serves by Averbeck and Perry to cruise past the Tigers, 25-12. State limited Towson to a .032 team attack percentage, while hitting .448 for themselves. They also put together an impressive 72% sideout percentage. Trailing 5-3, Averbeck went back to serve and helped GSU score five straight points to give the Panthers the 8-5 lead. Later in the set, Perry came up to serve with the Panthers up 13-8, and strung together eight straight points to give GSU the 21-8 cushion.
"We served very aggressively today and got Towson out of system, which leads to us knowing one or two places they are going to set the ball and that helps us know where to go up for a block," said Audia.
Georgia State closed out the match in the fourth set, claiming it 25-18. Leading only 7-4 early in the set, Verdun went back to serve and helped the Panthers score four straight points to build a 11-4 lead. The Tigers were able to trim the lead to 22-18, but kills by A. Jones and Raquel Jones and an attack error by Towson gave the Panthers the match.
GSU returns to action next weekend when they travel to Fairfax, Va., to face the 2009 CAA Champion George Mason Patriots on Friday evening. The Panthers will then head to James Madison on Saturday to meet up with the Dukes. Both matches will be at 7 p.m., and available via live stats.
