The Sports Inquirer

Post-match interview with Georgia State volleyball coach Sally Polhamus

Post-match interview with Georgia State junior defensive specialist/libero Gabby Serafin

By E. Marcel Pourtout, Editor

The Georgia State volleyball team earned its first home victory of the season with a 3-1 (25-18, 23-25, 25-18, 25-16) win over Georgia Southern on Oct. 8 at the GSU Sports Arena in Atlanta.

The victory snapped the Panthers’ four-match losing streak.

Deidra Bohannon had a team-high 22 kills in the contest along with 12 digs for a double-double, her sixth of the season. Eliza Zachary (14) and Kitan Ajanaki (10) also had double-digit kills in the victory.

Natalia Nieto had a game-high 49 assists for the Panthers (4-12, 2-5 Sun Belt) along with 10 digs for her first double-double of the year. Gabby Serafin’s 26 digs were also a game-high.

“I’m so proud of our team and played with so much heart,” Georgia State coach Sally Polhamus said. “They worked hard for every point. We talked about winning the serving and passing game and they did a good job with that.”

“We came out prepared,” Serafin said. “We’ve been working really hard to push for that win. The team meshed, the blockers lined up, we were aggressive and came through. It feels great to play against Southern and get the win.”

In the first set, Georgia Southern (2-15, 2-6 Sun Belt) jumped out to an early 7-4 lead before Georgia State responded with a 5-0 run of its own, led by two kills and a block from Bohannon to control the rest of the frame.

“We stopped some tough Georgia Southern runs and that’s something we haven’t done yet this season,” Polhamus said. “The players did a nice job of stopping and getting a side out quickly.”

The first set also three aces by Georgia State, two from Sydney Mauer and one from Zachary. The Panthers finished the contest with six aces. “Our serving has become more technical and efficient,” Polhamus said.”The maturity of our players and the ability to attack the opposing players.”

The Panthers earned a shooting percentage of .226 in the second set but still dropped it.

After the intermission, the third set brought about changes to Georgia State’s player rotation.

“Our bench is strong so anyone can come in and it seamless,” Polhamus said. “That what we need because if an opposing server is picking on a passer, we have to change some people out. Morgan Patterson came in and did a fantastic job along with Brianna Jones.”

Georgia State finished the match with a .247 hitting percentage while holding Georgia Southern to .087.

The victory was a critical one as the Panthers have two road contests in Arkansas this upcoming weekend.

“This win was huge because we leave to go on the road tomorrow and winning at home is so important in this conference,” Polhamus said. “Our confidence and aggressiveness is ready to go.”

Georgia State returns to action on Friday at Arkansas State.