ATLANTA – After winning the first set 25-22, Georgia State's volleyball team fell to South Alabama 3-1 on Saturday at the GSU Sports Arena. Junior Eliza Zachary led all players with 18 kills and a .531 attack percentage.

“We are such a better team since we first played South Alabama two weeks ago, but we still have a of work to do,” head coach Sally Polhamus said. “We were aggressive in the first set and we controlled the passing game, but we have to play aggressive in every set to win.”

The Panthers (3-12, 1-5 SBC) came out on fire in front of the home crowd on Saturday night. GSU never trailed in the first set and used five team blocks and a .429 hitting percentage to control the game. Zachary and sophomore Kristina Stinson each had three block assists to help guide a 25-23 win for Georgia State.

“We focused a lot on eye sequencing in practice this week. It really helped because we were all on the same page on defense,” Zachary said.

Zachary is coming off a career match in which she had a career-high 22 kills vs. UL Lafayette on Thursday. Heading into play on Saturday, she was fourth in the conference with a .350 hitting percentage.

The tables were turned in set two as South Alabama (8-8, 3-3 SBC) hit .500 on its way to a 25-15 victory to even the match at 1-1. After intermission, the Panthers and Jaguars traded blows for the remainder of the match. Georgia State came up short in the end, and lost 25-19 and 25-21 in sets three and four, respectively. Mechell Daniel hit .385 with 16 kills to lead the Jaguars and Jessica Lewis added 14 kills on .324 hitting.

NOTING THE PANTHERS…

• Junior Deidra Bohannon recorded her second consecutive double-double with 15 kills and 14 digs. It was her fifth on the season.
• Junior Eliza Zachary finished the match with 18 kills and a .531 hit percentage. Zachary also paced the Panther defense with her five total blocks. Polhamus called Zachary's attitude on the court “contagious” and noted that the team feeds off the middle blocker's energy and high level of play. Zachary says she tries "to be encouraging and positive when something doesn't go our way so that we can move on and win the next point."
• Junior Kitan Ajanaku hit .286 with nine kills and a block. Sophomore Kristina Stinson added six kills while junior Natalia Nieto led all players in assists with 48.

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