Women’s Volleyball: Eagles Prevail over Elon

ELON, N.C. – Georgia Southern (17-3, 5-1 SoCon) managed to snap the Elon volleyball team’s (12-10, 3-3 SoCon) three-match winning streak today, Oct. 12, as the Phoenix fell to the Eagles, 3-0 (10-25, 24-26, 16-25), in Alumni Gym.

“We came out flat against a very good Georgia Southern team today and that wasn’t a good combination,” said Elon head coach Mary Tendler. “To the players’ credit, they turned things around in the second set. We just couldn’t make plays at the end to win it. We will learn from this defeat and move on to our next match.”

Senior Cali Estes led the Phoenix with nine kills. Junior Danielle Smith recorded five kills, while also finishing with a team-high four blocks on defense. Both sophomore Ana Nicksic and freshman Ally Karle tallied two blocks on the day to help Elon to five total team blocks.

In the first set, GSU took an 8-2 lead early before Elon cut the deficit to four, 8-4, with a kill by Estes and a block by Karle and D. Smith. Off the serve of Lauren LaRocque and Nicole Jeschelnik, the Eagles managed a 10-2 run to take a 12-point advantage. GSU was able to maintain its edge and go on to win the set, 25-10.

A block by Megan Gravley and D. Smith followed by back-to-back kills by Gravley put Elon up 3-0 at the beginning of the second set. With the score tied at nine-all, a block by Karle and Nicksic helped give the Phoenix four of the next six points to take a 14-11 lead. The Eagles would eventually even the score and neither team would take more than a two-point advantage for the remainder of the set. Elon reached set point first, 24-23, after a kill by Estes, but GSU managed to score the next three points to claim a tight 26-24 win.

The Eagles took the first four points of the third set before three kills by Estes and a block by Estes and D. Smith helped the maroon and gold to a 4-1 run to tie the score at five-all. Kills by D. Smith helped keep the Phoenix within two, 13-11, but GSU was able to score the next five for a seven-point lead, 18-11. Elon was not able to overcome the deficit and fell by a final of 25-16.

The Phoenix will go back on the road and play its next match at Samford on Friday, Oct. 18, at 8 p.m. in Birmingham, Ala.