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ATLANTA, Ga. – There’s nothing like a five-set, emotionally-charged match to begin the collegiate volleyball season. Unfortunately for the Morehead State Eagles they came up on the short end on the scoreboard in the season opener.
Morehead State and Georgia State went back and forth for the full five Friday night before the Eagles grabbed the final momentum shift, winning 3-2 (25-23, 15-25, 19-25, 25-23, 16-14) over MSU at the GSU Sports Arena. The Eagles fell to 0-1, while the Panthers opened their season 1-0.
“While I am disappointed we couldn’t hold on after leading 2-1, I think having a five-set match to begin the year will only help us. We can learn a lot about what we need to do to win these types of matches now. Georgia State is solid team all around, and I think, with the exception of the first set, we played pretty well tonight in a hostile environment,” said coach Jaime Gordon.
In the first set, the Eagles built an 8-6 lead but Georgia State turned up the defensive pressure at the net. Four straight blocks ignited the host Panthers to an 11-8 advantage. GSU continued to hold, increasing it to 20-15 before MSU rattled off three straight to climb back to within 20-18. But, the Panthers were true on the next three points to push it to 23-18.
Once again MSU rallied, forcing a pair of Panther attack errors and moved back to within 23-21. Another GSU error, plus a quick dump that landed in by Emma Keough had the set tied at 23. However, the Eagles came up short on the next serve, and GSU sealed the set with a kill to take it 25-23.
The Eagles struggled on offense with just nine kills and 12 errors. Sophomore Ellie Roberson landed six of the Eagle kills. GSU middle blocker Vineece Vaughn piled up six total blocks in the opening set, leading to six total team blocks for the hosts. GSU didn’t hit much better, only mustering a .020 effort.
The tide turned in favor of MSU as the Eagles came out firing in set two. MSU built an 11-1 early lead and was able to possess its double digit advantage throughout, claiming a 25-15 victory. MSU hit .297 in the set and had 24 digs. Junior Liz Schuler, who got her first start at libero, came up clutch on the back row with 14 digs in the second set along after scooping six in the first.
Meanwhile, the Eagle attackers made adjustments and avoided the Panther net defense as GSU managed just one block. On defense, sophomore Annie Gruenschlaeger added three blocks, while senior Holly Evans came up with two more rejections after tallying two in the opening set.
Set three also started in favor of MSU as it opened up a 6-3 lead early. After back-to-back kills from Gruenschlaeger, it was a 9-4 Eagle lead. The Eagles continued to lead, but the Panthers gradually crept to within striking distance. The Eagles called timeout to regroup, leading 17-15. The break seemed to calm MSU down as it increased its lead to 22-17 with a 5-2 run. Schuler served up an ace for the final point as the Eagles held on to claim a 25-19 win in the third.
MSU hit .206, while GSU only hit .074 in the third. The Eagles landed 13 kills.
The momentum in the fourth set shifted back to GSU. The Panthers served up two aces and landed four quick kills to build a 9-2 lead. But, the Eagles didn’t go away easily, climbing back to within 15-11. A few moments later, the Eagles had trimmed the disadvantage down to 20-18. The Panthers again pushed their lead out to 24-18, but MSU staved off set point as long as it could, rallying back to within 24-23. But, the Panthers slipped in a kill past the Eagle defense to end the set winning 25-23.
In the final set, which only goes to 15 points, the Eagles again took the early momentum with a 3-0 lead. The Panthers matched MSU for the next 12 points, but a pair of Eagle kills had MSU closer to victory at 11-6. It wasn’t a done deal though as two Eagle blocking mistakes set the score at 11-8. GSU then rallied back to take a 14-13 lead. MSU again staved off the loss, but the Panthers scored the next two to seal the win.
Schuler finished with a career high 33 digs, part of a 71-dig performance by the Eagles. Roberson led the Eagles with 15 kills, while Evans had 14. Gruenschlaeger tallied six blocks, while Evans added five. Kirstie Brangers handed out 45 assists. The Eagles finished with a .167 hitting percentage.
Georgia State was topped by Verdun’s 23 kills on a .423 hitting night. She also had seven blocks. Ashley Jones had 19 kills and 11 digs.
The Eagles play Wright State on Saturday at 11 a.m. and North Florida at 5 p.m.
