NORFOLK, Va. – Old Dominion volleyball won the opening set 25-21, but Georgia State captured the next three to split the Sun Belt series with a 3-1 final on Saturday afternoon at the ODU Volleyball Center.
“We can be really good, but we’re just not that long enough,” said ODU head coach Fred Chao afterwards. “Georgia State played better for longer stretches, so hats off to them. I think there was a little bit more that we needed to do to play at our level, and we just didn’t get there.”
GSU 3, ODU 1
The Panthers (11-8, 2-6 Sun Belt) raced out to a 13-7 lead in the first set, but multiple errors, kills by Emma Schelah and Rita Benidio, and a block by Schelah and Wiktoria Zagumny cut the deficit to 14-12 as GSU called a timeout. Out of the break, Adrienne Peji served an ace and the visitors had back-to-back attack errors as ODU tied the set at 15-15. The Panthers were up 21-19 late, but a pair of Kate Kilpatrick aces highlighted a 6-0 run as the Monarchs (4-15, 1-7) came out on top, 25-21.
GSU used an early 9-0 run in the second set and never looked back. A solo block by Zagumny and a couple Panther attack errors trimmed their lead to 22-13, but the guests evened the match with a 25-13 decision.
The third set remained tight throughout. The Panthers pulled ahead 16-14, but the Monarchs countered with a 4-1 swing to grab control at 18-17. GSU found some separation 24-21, and a block by Benidio and Schelah and a kill by Zagumny kept ODU in the set, but Akira Burt put away a ball from Shanelle Martinez to clinch the set point.
A couple of Schelah kills allowed the Monarchs to take a 16-11 lead in the fourth set, but a 4-0 GSU sent ODU back to its bench. Tied at 20-20, Rakoski scored a kill before Burt committed an attack error, and Schelah and Rakoski added a block as Old Dominion went up 23-20. The Panthers won the next four points though and edged the Monarchs 27-25 to close out the match.
Maggi, Rakoski, and Schelah scored nine kills each to pace the attack. Zagumny tallied 32 assists with seven digs while Maggi, Peji, and Kilpatrick all served two aces. Kilpatrick led the back row with 23 digs, Peji contributed 11, and Maggi had 10. Schelah and Benidio led ODU at the net with six and four blocks, respectively.
“Wiktoria can deliver balls when she’s on the run or when the pass isn’t quite there, and that’s what we need,” added Chao when asked about his setter. “And so now our hitters need to trust and understand that she can do that, so we need to be ready tot take those swings.”
Kilpatrick also eclipsed 1,000 career digs in the match, becoming the first Monarch in program history to accomplish the feat. The junior from Raleigh, North Carolina came into the day needing 19 digs to reach the milestone.
“Congratulations to Kate on reaching a career milestone,” continued Chao. “She’s been an anchor for us since she arrived, and we are so proud of her. And while 1,000-plus digs is impressive, her serve receive skills really set her apart.”
There were 26 ties in the match, 15 of them in the third set, and 13 lead changes.
Up Next
ODU continues its homestand next week when the Monarchs host Southern Miss for a pair of Sun Belt matches on Thursday and Friday, Oct. 23-24.