Audio Interviews
Head Coach Tami Audia
Junior Vineece Verdun
ATLANTA -- Behind 23 kills and four blocks from redshirt junior Vineece Verdun, the Georgia State volleyball team rallied from a two-sets-to-one deficit in the season opener to defeat Morehead State, 3-2 (25-23, 15-25, 19-25, 25-23, 16-14). The win gave head coach Tami Audia her first career victory in front of an enthusiastic crowd of 222 at the GSU Sports Arena. The match was the second of the day in the inaugural Georgia State Invitational. Earlier in the day, Wright State defeated North Florida, 3-0.
"It feels really good to get that first win," said Audia. "That was a really good team we defeated tonight. It was a fun win for us and I'm just really happy right now. The fans were cheering all the way to the end and it gave us some momentum to come from behind."
In the deciding fifth set, the Eagles jumped out to a quick 8-4 lead at the side change. Trailing 11-6, the Panthers rallied to earn the victory. A pair of kills by Verdun and sophomore Jamiee Freeman cut the lead to 11-8. After back and forth points made it 13-10, kills by Verdun and Ashley Jones and a pair of attack errors by the Eagles gave the Panthers their first lead of the set at 14-13. After a kill by Emma Keough tied the match at 14, a kill by Jones and an attack error by MSU gave the Panthers the victory.
Trailing 2-1 entering the fourth set, the Panthers took control early, taking a 9-2 lead. Morehead State fought back, cutting the lead to three several times throughout the set. Needing only a point to claim the set, and leading 24-18, the Panthers allowed the Eagles to trim the lead to 24-23 before Freeman ended the set with a kill off a set from Chelsea Perry. Jones had eight kills in the set to pace GSU.
After having team attack percentages of .020, .047 and .074 in the first three sets, the Panthers rebounded to record percentages of .255 and .625 in the last two.
Freeman had 18 digs, eight kills and all five of the team's service aces, while Jones recorded a double-double with 19 kills and 11 digs. Perry had a career-high 51 assists and 12 digs, while libero Audrey Cantrell had 17 digs. Perry has set career highs in assists in back-to-back matches dating back to last year.
GSU came out in set one fired up, and after overcoming an early 4-1 deficit, took control of the match, eventually pushing its lead to 20-14. Morehead State rallied to tie the set at 23 apiece, but a service error by Aryn Bohannon and a kill by Verdun gave the first set to the Panthers.
Sets two and three were controlled by the Eagles as they quickly dispatched the Panthers 25-15 and 25-19, respectively.
The Panthers (1-0), will meet up with North Florida (0-1) in Saturday's 1 p.m. contest. The Eagles, who were the Ohio Valley Conference's preseason favorite, fall to 0-1 and will face off against Wright State (1-0) in Saturday's 11 a.m. contest.
MSU will close out the tourney at 5 p.m. against North Florida, while GSU will match up with Wright State in the tournament finale at 7 p.m.
MATCH 1: North Florida vs. Wright State 5 p.m.
Wright State 3, North Florida 0 (25-23, 25-21, 25-16)
Jessica Woods had 12 digs and 11 kills to lead the Raiders to a 3-0 victory over the Ospreys.
