NORFOLK, Va. – Old Dominion volleyball dropped its second of two matches against Georgia Southern, falling 3-0 to the Eagles on Friday night at the ODU Volleyball Center.
ODU falls to 3-10 overall and 0-2 in the Sun Belt with the loss.
GS 3, ODU 0
Elisa Maggi gave the Monarchs a 5-4 lead in the first set after scoring a ball from Kyra Hampton and then following it up with a service ace. The Eagles (11-2, 2-0) took back control 7-5 after back-to-back kills by Reagan Barth and pushed that lead to 22-14. ODU didn’t back down though. Bryanna Jones and Maggi had a pair of successful attack attempts and Kate Kilpatrick served up an ace to force a GS timeout. Out of the break, LeeAnne Lowery added two more kills and Maggi scored another to make it a 6-0 Monarch run as ODU was back within two at 22-20. Old Dominion staved off set point with a kill by Jones and a block by Lowery and Maggi, but Georgia Southern’s Kirsten Barrett assisted Lydia Seymour to secure the opening set, 25-22.
ODU fell behind 6-3 early in the second set, but Katie Rakoski scored a kill to trim the visitor lead to 9-7. The Eagles then won five unanswered points as the Monarchs were forced to burn a timeout. Another 6-0 spurt by GS had ODU trailing 20-8, and a 25-12 tally made it a 2-0 overall lead for the Eagles.
Georgia Southern took a 8-4 lead towards the start of the third set, though ODU stayed within striking distance as a Rakoski kill cut the deficit to 12-10. A couple of Alex Myers kills and an attack error by Maggi brought the set to a media timeout with the Monarchs down 15-10. An ace by Maggi narrowed the gap 19-17, and Hampton assisted Rita Benidio to see the Monarchs fighting to catch their opponent at 22-20, but the next three points went to the Eagles as the closed out the match in straight sets.
The offense was led by Maggi with eight kills, Lowery followed with seven kills, and Rakoski tallied six. Hampton had 27 assists while Maggi served two aces and Kilpatrick serve one. On defense, three Monarchs finished with double-digit digs. Maggi ended up with the most with 17, Adrienne Peji was close behind her with 14, and Kilpatrick was third with 10. Maggi and Lowery recorded four blocks each, Tiana Stubbs made three, Hampton got two blocks, and Jones had one.
The match featured 11 ties and six lead changes.
Up Next
Old Dominion will travel to Conway, South Carolina next weekend for a Sun Belt series at Coastal Carolina. The Monarchs and Chanticleers will play at 6 p.m. next Friday, Oct. 3 and at 2 on Saturday, Oct. 4.