ATLANTA -- The Georgia State volleyball team rallied from a 2-0 deficit on Friday night to defeat James Madison 3-2 (23-25, 24-26, 25-23, 25-19, 16-14) at the GSU Sports Arena. Redshirt-junior Vineece Verdun led the Panther comeback with 19 kills, while redshirt-senior Audrey Cantrell scored a season-high 30 digs.
A rowdy crowd of 373 watched the Panthers improve to 13-12, 7-4 in the CAA. GSU is now tied with James Madison (19-7, 7-4 CAA) and Northeastern (16-9, 7-4 CAA) for fourth place in the conference, with just three matches remaining. GSU's seven conference victories are the most since the Panthers entered the league in 2005. That year also marked GSU's lone CAA Tournament bid.
"This victory was a total team effort tonight," said head coach Tami Audia. "The girls showed tremendous grit fighting all the way back after being down 2-0 and our assistant coaches (Kelly Audia, Beth Van Fleet and Liz Shuyler) did a great job of scouting Madison. We have to rest up and come out and play another tough team in George Mason on Sunday."
The Panthers are now an impressive 3-0 in five set matches that saw GSU trail 2-0 entering halftime.
The fifth set saw eight tie scores as neither team wanted to go home with a loss. With the momentum from two-straight set victories, GSU jumped out to a quick 8-5 lead at the side change. The Dukes quickly tied the match up at nine and held one-point leads five different times down the stretch. However, facing match point, a costly Dukes' service error gave GSU the serve tied at 14. A kill by Ashley Jones and a block by Muki Kangwa and Raquel Jones gave GSU the hard-fought victory.
Kangwa paced GSU with a 21 kill, 9 dig, and three total block performance. Verdun had 19 kills, while A. Jones had her 12th double-double of the year with 16 kills and 13 digs. Setter Chelsea Perry had her eighth 50-plus assist match of the season and third straight with 57 assists. Freshman Emily Averbeck had 15 kills and two crucial service aces.
The first four sets were back and forth with JMU claiming the first two, and GSU rallying to take the next two and force a game five.
In set one, with the score tied at 23, a pair of kills gave JMU the victory. Set two was another close set. GSU had set point at 24-23, but an attack error by A. Jones tied it up for Madison. A kill and block gave JMU the 2-0 lead going into halftime.
GSU controlled much of set three, but JMU rallied to push it to 24-23. However, an A. Jones kill gave GSU new life entering the fourth set. The Panthers controlled the fourth set from the beginning in cruising to the 25-19 victory, setting up the deciding fifth set.
The Panthers return to action on Sunday when they battle George Mason in a 1 p.m. match on Senior Day. Seniors Rachel Boryc, Audrey Cantrell, Ashley Jones and Raquel Jones will be recognized as they compete in their final match at the Sports Arena. Live stats will be available to follow the match.
