Williamsburg, Va.- Redshirt-senior Vineece Verdun had 17 kills, including three in the final set, to lead the Georgia State volleyball team to a five-set win (20-25, 25-21, 25-14, 14-25, 15-6) over William & Mary in Colonial Athletic Association action Friday in Williamsburg.
Georgia State (13-15, 7-4 CAA) is now just one win away from clinching a spot in its first CAA tournament since 2005, sitting in a tie for third place in the league. The top six CAA schools will qualify for the conference tournament later this month.
Freshman Andrea Noe reached double-digit kills for the third straight contest on Friday, adding 13 to the Panther attack.
The Panthers tied a season-long winning streak with their third straight win and earned a season split against the Tribe (8-16, 2-10 CAA).
The Panthers have three matches remaining on the year, beginning Saturday night with a contest at VCU (13-15, 6-6 CAA). GSU then returns home next weekend for their final two matches.
Five Panthers tallied 11 or more digs Friday night, led by Emily Averbeck's 22.
"We definitely used a team effort for this win," said head coach Tami Audia. "When it came to the last set, I was really pleased with our confidence and poise."
In the opening frame, the Panthers and Tribe battled to a 13-13 tie after Verdun placed her first kill of the night. The Tribe would pull away in the set thanks to offense from Paulette Grand Pre and Alexandra Ciaccio, and the Panthers never drew closer than five points down the stretch in a 25-20 loss.
GSU brought the match even in the second set thanks to strong serving and offense from Verdun. The Panther redshirt-senior drilled six kills in the frame, helping GSU erase an 18-14 deficit. Tied 20-20, junior Jamiee Freeman served one of GSU's three aces in the set to put the Panthers ahead. Noe added two kills to help keep the Panthers in control for a 25-21 victory.
Verdun picked up where she left off in the third set, ripping three kills in the opening minutes to help GSU to a 10-5 lead. The Panthers would extend their advantage by forcing the Tribe into several errors. GSU went up 20-12 after an attacking error from Ciaccio and coasted from there. The Panthers hit .275 for the set, making just one error in a 25-14 win. The Tribe finished with nine errors in the frame as GSU took a one-set lead.
The Tribe did not go down without a fight, rebounding with 16 kills in the fourth set to even the match at two games apiece with a 25-14 win of their own as GSU hit just .026.
Playing a fifth set for the sixth time this season, GSU continued the back-and-forth pace by jumping in front immediately. The Panthers used aces by Averbeck and Kangwa, plus more offense from Verdun to claim an 8-1 advantage. Later, Noe kept the Panthers well in front with a kill for a 13-4 lead. The freshman then added two more spikes to give GSU a 15-6 win that clinched the match.
GSU improved to 4-2 in five-setters this year in earning just their third all-time win over William & Mary in 12 attempts.
"You could see in the team's eyes that they were going to win," added Audia. "I'm excited to see how we come out tomorrow and match up with VCU."
The Panthers begin play against the Rams in the Siegel Center at 7 p.m. Saturday night.
