Georgia State volleyball preps for home match against Arkansas Little Rock

Georgia State volleyball coach Sally Polhamus interview:

By E. Marcel Pourtout, Editor

With the non-conference portion of its schedule complete, the Georgia State volleyball team will play Sun Belt Conference matches for the rest of the season. The Panthers have now begun preparations for their next contest, a home match against Arkansas-Little Rock this Friday.

Georgia State (3-9, 1-2) spent last weekend on the road, defeating Louisiana-Monroe 3-0 on Sept. 19 before dropping its contest against South Alabama 3-0.

“We executed our system against Monroe from serving to passing,” Panthers’ coach Sally Polhamus said. “We talk about winning the serving and passing batte but had 11 missed serves in the first two sets against South Alabama. They capitalized on our errors.”

The Monroe contest saw the emergence of two Panthers who’ve previously been secondary options on offense. Middle blocker Kitan Ajanaku and outside hitter Kristina Stinson each had nine kills in the victory.

“Kitan has been steady for us all season and we want to get the middles the ball as much as possible,” Polhamus said. “During her rotations, there are more hitters on the floor but we have to get the ball to her more. Kitan is working hard to be ready during our transition game which we’re working on.”

Ajanaku, a junior who started her collegiate career at Long Beach State before transferring into the Georgia State program last year, primarily serves a defensive role for the Panthers, currently sitting second on the team in blocks with 23. However, the Monroe game showed another aspect to her game.

“The serving and passing from my teammates were great,” Ajanaku said. “Natalia (Nieto) got the ball up high for me was consistent. Its so helpful when your teammates are behind you and everything is running smoothly.”

Stinson’s nine kills against Monroe were a season-high for the sophomore. “Kristina had a great match against Monroe,” Polhamus said. “She passes well, attacked and took control of her game. We’re working on having that consistently from match to match.”

Georgia State welcomes Arkansas-Little Rock (8-4, 2-0), the preseason favorite to win the SUn Belt. The Trojans feature two preseason All-Conference selections in outside hitters Edina Begic and Sonja Milanovic. Begic has averaged 4.18 kills per set with a .314 hitting percentage this season.

“Arkansas Little Rock knows how to win, have dominant outsides who can terminate all types of shots and are fun to watch,” Polhamus said. “We’ve struggled to stop outsides this year so that’s been our focus defensively this week.”

A victory would continue the building process for the Georgia State program.

“We’ve tried to keep the same mentality throughout the season,” Stinson said. “We’re getting better every weekend and this is another step forward in the awesome journey we have ahead of us.”

Friday’s contest will only be the second Panthers’ home match of the season.

“Its going to be great being around our fans and excited to play at home,” Stinson said.