Photo Credit: Randy Wilson Photography
Release from Georgia State Athletics:
For the third time this season, Georgia State’s volleyball team will line up across the net from Texas State. This time, a spot in the second round of the Sun Belt Conference Championship is on the line on Thursday, Nov. 27 at 8:30 p.m. ET.
“We play good volleyball when we play them,” head coach Sally Polhamus said. “It’s more of an aggressive mentality for the girls. We’re 1-1 against them and this time it’s in the tournament so we’re excited.”
In its first postseason match since 2011, seventh-seed Georgia State (10-19, 8-12 SBC) will face the tournament hosts and defending conference champions in the first round. The Panthers and second-seed Bobcats (20-12, 15-5 SBC) split in the regular season with each team winning on its home court. GSU used 17 kills from junior Eliza Zachary to knock off Texas State 3-1 on Oct. 17 at the Sports Arena. The Bobcats returned the favor by winning in four sets in San Marcos on Nov. 14. Texas State holds a 12-4 record at home.
“If we play to the best of our abilities, we’ll be happy with whatever happens,” Polhamus said. “When we played them on the road we had too many unforced errors. You can’t do that against a strong team. We had multiple opportunities to win the first set in the second meeting and ended up losing 29-27. It could’ve been a completely different match if we take the first set. It just goes to show that every point is important.”
The Panthers punched their ticket with a thrilling five-set, come-from-behind victory over Troy at home on Friday. Georgia State rallied with a 10-point run in Set 4 and a six-point run in Set 5 to claim the match and secure a spot in the tournament.
Deidra Bohannon is leading the way for the Panthers on offense this season. An all-conference selection in 2013, Bohannon leads the team with 427 kills and an average of 4.07 kills per set, good for third in the conference.
Only two current Panthers have played in a conference tournament with Georgia State. Seniors Andrea Book and Andrea’ Ezell were on the 2011 squad that was ousted in the first round of the Colonial Athletic Association tournament by James Madison.
The last time Georgia State won a conference tournament match was in 2004 when the Panthers defeated Mercer in five sets.
The winner Thursday advances to face either six-seed UL Lafayette (20-12, 9-11 SBC) or three-seed Arkansas State (20-9, 15-5 SBC) Friday at 7:30 p.m. The championship match is set for Saturday at 2 p.m. and will be aired on ESPN3.
2014 Sun Belt Conference Volleyball Tournament Seeds (Out of 11 teams)
- UALR (26-4, 20-0)
- Texas State (20-12, 15-5)
- Arkansas State (20-9, 15-5)
- UT Arlington (24-8, 14-6)
- Appalachian State (21-9, 11-9)
- UL Lafayette (20-12, 9-11)
- Georgia State (10-19, 8-12)
- South Alabama (12-18, 7-13)
The Sports Inquirer 
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