EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. – The Georgia State volleyball team had a tough outing on its second day of the SIUE Cougar Invitational, losing both of its matches on Saturday. In the morning, the Panthers (5-9) fell to undefeated DePaul in three sets, followed by a four set loss to host SIU-Edwardsville Saturday night.
On Friday night, and the first match of the tournament, GSU defeated Arkansas Pine-Bluff in three sets. Georgia State finished the weekend 1-2.
Georgia State began Saturday's play with a matchup with DePaul, who won the SIUE Cougar Invitational by improving its record to 12-0. The Lady Demons swept the Panthers 25-13, 25-21, 25-20.
The Panthers struggled offensively, hitting just .060 for the match. In comparison, DePaul hit .256 and its lead attacker, Vesela Zapryanova, had 18 kills. For the Panthers, sophomore Dede Bohannon led the team with eight kills, followed by sophomore Sydney Hunsley and junior Andrea' Ezell with six.
Four Panthers had a block assist, which totaled two team blocks. Bohannon also had two service aces in the match.
In GSU's second match of the day, the Panthers took on host SIU-Edwardsville (4-9). Georgia State took the opening set 25-21, but then lost the next three 25-13, 25-22, and 26-24.
The Panthers hit slightly better as a team at .128. Bohannon led the Panthers with 13 kills, followed by sophomores Kitan Ajanaku with 12 and Eliza Zachary with nine. Zachary and Ezell each had one solo block, while the team recorded 16 block assists. Senior Emily Averbeck had 31 digs as well.
"We have some work to do," head coach Tami Audia said. "I am glad we are going into conference play next week. We know what we need to focus on and the majority of that is Georgia State. I am looking forward to getting better this week at practice."
This was the last tournament of the nonconference season for GSU. The Panthers will return to action Fri., Sept. 27 for their first Sun Belt match. Georgia State will first visit Arkansas State on Friday, before travelling to UALR on Sun., Sept. 29.
The first home Sun Belt match for the Panthers will be on Wed., Oct. 2, at 6 p.m. ET.
