ATLANTA- Playing in the final home match of their careers, seniors Vineece Verdun and Muki Kangwa had 10 kills apiece to lead the Georgia State volleyball team to a four-set win (26-24, 18-25, 25-22, 25-16) over Colonial Athletic Association foe Hofstra in Sunday's regular season finale.
With the win, GSU (14-17, 8-6 CAA) finishes in a tie for fourth place in the CAA standings with James Madison and VCU. Seeding order and matchups for this week's CAA Tournament will be determined Sunday by the conference. The Panthers will be making their first postseason appearance since 2005.
Hofstra finishes the year 14-17 overall, 5-9 in league play with Sunday's loss. The win gives the Panthers a season sweep of Hofstra and an 8-6 record in CAA play for the second consecutive year after five straight seasons at .500 or below.
Senior setter Chelsea Perry had seven assists Sunday while Mirjam Pfyl added four digs and two kills. Nevena Peeva had two digs as all three made their final home appearance.
"It was great to be with my sisters one last time on my home court," said Verdun of the team's five seniors. "I'm so grateful to have had the opportunity to play with (this team) and for a great coach like Tami (Audia). I'm sad to see it end but I'm excited to go to the conference tournament."
"We knew what our task was," said Audia. "We knew what the results were going to mean today, helping to get a higher seed in the CAA Tournament. The underclassmen wanted to go out with a win for the seniors and the seniors wanted to go out with a bang. It was a good day from the start."
In the first set, the Panthers drew even at 10-10 after a kill from Freeman, then it was 17-17 as Andrea Book helped force a Hofstra attacking error. Hofstra would come within one point of winning the set by taking a 24-20 lead, but GSU fought off four straight set points thanks to strong defense and kills from Andrea Noe and rushed in front for a 26-24 win.
GSU allowed Hofstra to claim a 7-1 lead in the second set, but the Panthers roared back for an 8-8 tie, capped with an ace from Noe. The teams traded points through much of the set until back-to-back kills by Kangwa gave GSU a little breathing room at 19-16. Panthers got two late kills from Verdun and pushed to a 25-18 win as Kangwa ended the set with two more kills.
Loren Byerly laced a kill early in the third set for a 6-6 tie, then McGrew and Verdun later teamed up for a block to give GSU a slim 13-12 advantage. The set remained tight throughout and a kill from Byerly put GSU ahead, 21-20. The Panthers would score just once more in the set however and fell, 25-22.
Early in the fourth, Book and Noe combined for a block to give the Panthers an 8-6 lead. GSU stayed in front thanks to Freeman, whose fourth kill of the set put the Panthers up 15-11. Noe later made it 20-15 on a spike and the Panthers sailed to a 25-16 win in the final frame as GSU hit .500 in the deciding set.
Junior Jamiee Freeman posted a double-double by tying a match-high with 12 kills and adding 11 digs. Kangwa added 10 digs for her seventh double-double in the last eight matches as she's now racked up double-digit digs in nine straight contests.
Check back for CAA Tournament seeding and schedule of play.
