ATLANTA - After going 1-1 during the first day of the GSU Invitational, the Georgia State volleyball team defeated Presbyterian, 3-2 (19-25, 25-23, 13-25, 25-22, 15-12), in a five-set thriller on Saturday at GSU Sports Arena to end the two day tournament.
After dropping sets one and three, and trailing 13-19 in set four, the Panthers mounted a phenomenal comeback to win the tightly contested match.
"Our pre-conference schedule has been about getting better every match," said head coach Sally Polhamus. "This match we moved forward by working hard for every point and finishing the set. We had multiple people step-up in critical times."
For the match, Georgia State was led by Meisheia Griffin who tallied 17 kills while hitting .452. The senior middle blocker was named to the GSU Invitational All-Tournament team for her stellar play this weekend. For the tournament, Griffin accumulated 38 kills in the three contests while hitting .423.
Joining her on the All-Tournament team for Georgia State was Erin Wyatt who tallied 26 kills and 36 digs for the weekend.
The Georgia State freshmen played stellar as Olivia Kowalkowski and Evoni Lemons both came off the bench and contributed significantly.
Kowalkowski, a native of Lake Orion, Mich., had the best performance of her young career as she led the Panthers with 24 digs. Lemons, a product of Alpharetta, Ga., also had the best performance of her freshman campaign as she notched seven kills and seven digs.
Saturday's match against Presbyterian marked the first time in the last six matches that Georgia State lost set one. Unlike the previous five contests, the Panthers got off to a slow start and found themselves down 2-7 in the early going. Georgia State was able to get back on track, but Presbyterian maintained it's lead en route to a 25-19 set victory. Clara Bednarek led the Panthers in set one with three kills while hitting .429.
Georgia State won a tightly contested set two, which featured eight tied scores and three lead changes, 25-23. Griffin established her dominance in the middle as she tallied six kills while hitting a stellar .556. Laura Ehieze had a solid performance as well in set two as she notched three kills while hitting .750.
Presbyterian responded in set three with a dominant performance as the Blue Hose defeated Georgia State, 25-13. The Panthers offense was unable to get going while Erin Cooke and Rylee Moorhead of Presbyterian had the Blue Hose offense rolling.
Presbyterian's momentum from set three carried over into set four as it looked to close out Georgia State. Late in the fourth set, the Panthers found themselves down 13-19, and in danger of dropping the match. With it's back against the wall, GSU went on a 12-3 run led by Wyatt who registered four kills. Lemons, Kowalkowski and fellow freshman, Lauryn Moultrie helped spark the Panthers flurry as the trio played excellent defense down the stretch.
After going on a run to tie the match, 2-2, the Panthers looked to complete the comeback by winning set five and earning the match victory. Griffin refused to drop the deciding set as she logged a set-high three kills while notching the match-winning block along with Wyatt. Georgia State won the final set, 15-12, to take the match.
For the tournament, Georgia State went 2-1. The Panthers will look to continue their stellar play as they hit the road to face Clemson on Wednesday, Sept. 15.
Tournament Records
Stetson 3-0
Georgia State 2-1
Prebyterian 1-2
Alcorn State 0-3
All-Tournament Team
MVP: Elena Djokovic (Stetson)
Alexis Thompson (Stetson)
Alejandra Perez (Stetson)
*Erin Wyatt (Georgia State)
*Meisheia Griffin (Georgia State)
Hailey Grocholski (Presbyterian)
Jeda Curry (Alcorn State)
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