STATESBORO, Ga. – In its second five-set match in as many days, Georgia State's volleyball team emerged victorious in Statesboro, Ga., defeating rival Georgia Southern 3-2, 25-20, 25-23, 23-25, 24-26, 15-11, and completing a regular-season sweep of the Eagles.
“We were able to read their attackers better and disrupt their offense with our play at net,” Zachary, who finished with a team-high five blocks, noted. “We played a great match as a team and we were able to salvage a good win on the road.”
Junior Kitan Ajanaku set a new career-high with her.406 hitting percentage. The middle's 14th kill was her biggest as it helped slam the door on the Eagles in Set 5. Junior Eliza Zachary led all players with 24.5 points on 20 kills and five blocks.
“We got better as a team today,” Ajanaku said. “After dropping the two sets, we showed the ability to come back mentally and physically and play our game.”
NOTING THE PANTHERS…
- Georgia State improves to 8-15 (6-8 SBC) while Georgia Southern falls to 7-18 (6-9 SBC).
- Natalia Nieto now has 2,379 assists in her career after dishing out 53 on Saturday, good for fifth in the GSU record books. She is 17 away from fourth place. The junior finished the match with a double-double (53 assists, 15 digs). It was her sixth in a row and 10th on the year.
- Junior Deidra Bohannon recorded her second-straight double-double with 14 kills and 15 digs. She now has nine double-doubles on the year. Bohannon added three blocks on defense as well.
- The Panthers capitalized on the serving game against the Eagles on Saturday. Three players had three aces and the team had a total of 13 in the match. Sydney Mauer, Natalia Nieto, and Molly Shonk each had three aces.
- The last time the Panthers played in consecutive five-setters was Sept. 27 and Sept. 29 of last season.
“We won the serving and passing game today,” head coach Sally Polhamus said. “We are most proud of the team for their unbelievable fight in every set. Again, this was a total team effort. Georgia Southern is a tough place to play and our composure never wavered.”
Georgia State controlled the first set and came away with a 25-20 win. The Eagles fell behind early but tied the set at 11. Georgia State was able to stop the run and begin one of its own. The Panthers rattled of an 8-1 run to go on top 19-12 and maintained a lead the rest of the way. The Eagles came close at 23-20, but couldn't overcome the Panther offense which hit .378 in the set.
Freshman Sydney Mauer started off the second set with back-to-back aces for Georgia State. Mauer leads the team in aces with 32 on the season. Georgia Southern called its first timeout of the set after the Panthers jumped on top 6-1. GaSo responded with a 6-1 run of its own to tie the set at 7. After trailing 12-13, the Panthers responded with a 5-0 run to go up 17-13 using back-to-back aces by Molly Shonk. The Eagles pulled within one point at 24-23, but GSU shut the door with a kill by Zachary to win 25-23 and go up 2-0 at intermission.
Georgia Southern came out strong after intermission and took a 5-2 lead. Polhamus called a timeout to gather the team, but the Eagles kept the pressure on. Down 11-14, the Panthers scored three-straight to tie the set with the tying point coming off a block by Bohannon and Zachary. The Eagles went back on top after a timeout but the Panthers rallied to take a 20-19 lead, their first lead in the set since being on top 1-0. It wouldn't last, however, and Georgia Southern took the set 25-23.
Set 4 got underway in similar fashion as the previous frame. The Eagles held an early lead and stretched it to five at 9-4. GaSo led most of the way, but the Panthers threatened when they cut the lead the two at 19-21. Georgia State used a block from Ajanaku followed by an Eagles error to pull even at 22. Georgia State took its first lead of the set at 24-23, but ultimately fell 24-26.
Georgia State flipped the script in Set 5 and raced out to an 8-3 lead. Georgia Southern called a timeout and the Eagles were able to make it a three-point set at 12-9. Georgia State closed the door as Zachary killed it to win 15-11.
The Panthers return to the court this weekend as they host a pair of home matches on Friday and Saturday against Arkansas State and UL Monroe, respectively. Both matches are scheduled for 6 p.m.
