Eagles Offense Enough to Outlast Ragin' Cajuns

LAFAYETTE – Georgia Southern's offense, which produced over 15 kills per set for the match, is what ultimately allowed the visiting Eagles to claim a 3-2 (25-11, 25-21, 28-30, 22-25, 23-21) win over the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns Volleyball team on Saturday evening at Earl K. Long Gym.

The Eagles (8-9, 1-1 Sun Belt) utilized an 18-kill attack in the fifth set alone to hold off a comeback attempt by the Ragin' Cajuns (4-12, 1-1 Sun Belt). The visitors ended the match with a 78-67 advantage in kills.

The Ragin' Cajuns, who erased a 2-0 deficit in the match, were sitting at match point leading 14-13 in the fifth set, when an attack error kept the Eagles alive. Georgia Southern fought off set point two more times before back-to-back kills provided a 17-16 lead, giving the visitors the upper-hand the remainder of the frame.

Louisiana kept pressing by forging five more ties, but each time the Eagles landed a kill. After a Megan Chevalier kill put GASO up 22-21, Alex Beecher served up an ace to end the contest.

Stacey Reilly and Sydney Davis turned in career-best performances for the Ragin' Cajuns. Reilly threw down a match-high 26 kills, eclipsing her previous high of 24 kills at Houston Baptist on Aug. 27. Davis produced a match-high 32 digs, surpassing her previous high of 27 set last season at Georgia State and tied on Sept. 15 at UAB.

In the two set victories which pulled Louisiana into a tie, Reilly had 11 kills and Davis had 18 digs.

Chloe Cordell finished with 13 kills and Nia Antoine posted 11 kills to join Reilly in double digits. Hannah Henry and McKenzie John each scooped 15 digs in helping Davis shore up the back row for Louisiana.

Jessica Bartczyszyn dished out 57 of the Ragin' Cajuns' 63 assists, establishing her career-high total. She passed her previous high of 53 recorded at HBU and handed out 40-plus assists for the ninth time this season.

The Ragin' Cajuns raised their hitting percentage from .107 after the opening two sets to the final total of .215. The Eagles were able to hit .405 (18 K, 3 E, 37 TA) in the fifth set to fend off Louisiana's surge.

Katie Bange carried the Eagles with a triple-double of 23 kills, 31 assists and 25 digs. She landed six kills in the decisive fifth set.

Louisiana fell into a 2-0 hole in the match as the offense wasn't as crisp as the night before in the early stages. GASO held a 30-20 edge in kills and was out-hitting the Ragin' Cajuns .328-.107 heading into intermission.

Trailing 21-17 in the third set and on the verge of falling in straight sets the Ragin' Cajuns battled back with a 5-0 run that changed the complexion of the set. A Cordell kill forged a 24-all tie and extended the set, then Louisiana later broke a 28-all tie following a kill from Dree'Ana Abram and collected set point on a block solo from Antoine.

Louisiana was able to force the fifth set by going into rally mode again in the fourth set. It began by erasing a 14-11 deficit after forcing the Eagles to hit into three consecutive attack errors and was completed a pair of kills by Reilly and a block thrown up by Brooks and Reilly erased a 20-18 deficit.

The Eagles did manage to forge a 21-all tie, but it was quickly broken by another kill from Abram. Louisiana won three of the next four rallies, all on kills, to even the match.

With the win, Georgia Southern extended its series lead to 3-1. The Eagles, who won last season's lone meeting in four sets on Oct. 16, 2015 at Earl K. Long Gym, now carry a two-match win streak over the Ragin' Cajuns.

With the Sun Belt returning to divisional standings, Saturday's match marked the lone meeting of the season between the Ragin' Cajuns of the West Division and the Eagles of the East Division.

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Team Stats

Stacey Reilly

Chloe Cordell

Nia Antoine

Chynna Brooks

Players Mentioned

Dree'Ana Abram

Nia Antoine

Jessica Bartczyszyn

Chloe Cordell

Sydney Davis

Hannah Henry

McKenzie John

Stacey Reilly