The Panthers got out to an early lead in set one. Back-to-back aces by the sophomore setter,
Maren Palmer, gave the Panthers a 4-2 lead. The Eagles took the lead from the Panthers and went up 12 – 7. An Isabelle Peroco kill ignited a Panthers 4 – 0 run to bring them right back into the match. Back-to-back kills by
Laura Ehieze tied the match at 18-all before a
Julianna Truscott kill would give the Panthers the lead. The Eagles fought back and eventually took set one 25-23.
The Eagles would go on and use the set one victory as momentum to take set two, 25 – 11.
Isabelle Percoco got things started in the third set for the Panthers with two kills to help the Panthers gain an early 3-0 advantage. Georgia Southern challenged an out call and won the point at 10 -11, but a kill by Percoco got the ball right back for the Panthers tying up set three once again. A big block from
Evoni Lemons and
Clara Bednarek along with a pair of kills from
Izzy Durnell extended the Panthers lead to 18-15. Bednarek put down a tactful kill down the line, which the Eagles the challenge unsuccessfully, putting the Panthers up 23-21. Lemons fought through the block to give the Panthers set point, 24-22. The Eagles saved set point and tied it up at 24-all pushing the set to extra points. The Panthers held on an
Erin Wyatt hammered one down to win the set, 27 – 25.
Ryan Spicer-Gordon got the fourth set started with back-to-back aces. The teams traded points until the Eagles were able to go on a 6-0 scoring run, extending their lead to 16-10. The Panthers battles back but the 6-0 run proved to be too much to recover from and the Eagles won the third set, 25-21.
Livy Kowalkowksi tied her season-high and led all players on the court with 27 digs.
Isabelle Percoco earned a season high 16.5 points with 14 kills and 5 block.
Erin Wyatt earned her seventh double-double with 11 kills and 14 digs.
Clara Bednarek put 11 kills as well along with three blocks. Setters
Jenna Brown and
Maren Palmer recorded 25 and 15 assists respectively.
The Panthers take on the Eagles again tomorrow at 1 PM on ESPN+.
