ATLANTA - Georgia State defeated Alcorn State in straight sets (25-13, 25-22, 25-15) before falling to Stetson, 1-3 (25-21, 18-25, 21-25, 27-29), to end day one of the Georgia State Invitational at GSU Sports Arena.
The Panthers won the first set in both of their matches Saturday to extend their streak of winning set one to five games.
For the day, Georgia State was led by Meisheia Griffin who tallied 21 kills over the two contests. The Columbus, Ga. native continued to hit efficiently as she hit .417 against Stetson and .375 against Alcorn State.
In the contest against Stetson, Erin Wyatt had another dominant performance as the sophomore outside hitter notched 16 kills and 14 digs. Leah Wilcox shined defensively against Stetson also as she logged 16 digs for the Panthers.
Setters Claire Lewis and Truth Hafey put together solid days as they accumulated 42 assists and 36 assists, respectively.
MATCH ONE
In the first contest of the day, Georgia State squared off with Alcorn State looking to bounce back from a four game losing streak. In the early going of set one, Alcorn State came out aggressive and battled to an early advantage. After a kill from Jeda Curry of Alcorn State extended the Braves lead to three, the Panthers went on a dominant 13-0 run to take a 21-10 lead. The Panthers spurt was led by Griffin and Wyatt who tallied three kills and two kills, respectively. Georgia State went on to win the set, 25-13.
Set two was more tightly contested as the Braves put together a 4-0 run to open the set. After a service error gave Alcorn State a 13-11 lead, Georgia State responded with a 6-0 run. Georgia State went on to extend their lead to five after a kill from Clara Bednarek, but the Braves responded with a 5-0 run to tie the set at 22. After a kill from Evoni Lemons, and an attack error by Alcorn State, the Panthers found themselves one point away from the set victory. Moments later, Julianna Truscott received a perfect set from Lewis and attacked the Alcorn State defense to score set point.
The momentum from set two carried over into the third set and the Panthers earned a dominant 25-15 set victory to win the match, 3-0. During the last set, seven different Panthers registered a kill.
MATCH TWO
Georgia State came into the second match of the day against Stetson looking to put together their first winning streak of the season. The Panthers played a stellar first set as the team notched 15 kills and earned a 25-21 set victory. In set one, the Panthers were led by Bednarek who tallied four kills.
Stetson responded to the Panthers solid performance in set one by reeling off the next two sets to take a 2-1 match lead.
Set four was competitive from start to finish as the Panthers fought to extend the match. Stetson went on to take the fourth set to win the match, 3-1. Georgia State was led by Wyatt in set four who tallied five kills and three digs. Ava Vlkovic held down the Panthers back row in set four as she logged seven digs.
UP NEXT
Action will resume tomorrow when Alcorn State faces Stetson at 1:00 p.m. The Panthers will look to bounce back when they face Presbyterian at 4:00 p.m. to close the tournament.
WEEKEND SCHEDULE
Saturday, Sept. 11:
Alcorn State vs. Stetson (1 p.m.)
*Georgia State vs. Presbyterian (4 p.m.)
*Indicates GSU matches
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