SAVANNAH, Ga. – The Savannah State University (1-23) fell to in-state rival Georgia Southern University (12-12) 3-1 (18-25, 9-25, 25-14, 13-25) in the final home match of the season in Willcox-Wiley Gymnasium Monday.
Graduate student outside hitter Justice Dilworth and senior setter Caitlynn Masoe led the Lady Tigers with seven kills each, while Masoe added 11 assists, six digs, two service aces and two blocks and Dilworth recorded a hitting percentage of .462 and added two service aces and two digs.
Junior setter Alee Quint led the team with 15 assists and added eight digs and a service ace, while senior middle blocker Gabrielle Nathaniel added four kills and six digs and senior libero Alexis Washington added six digs.
With the score tied at three in the first set, Georgia Southern scored seven of the next eight points to take a six-point lead, 10-4, but the Lady Tigers scored the next three points to cut the lead to three, 10-7. The Eagles scored six of the next nine points to push their lead back to six, 16-10, forcing a Savannah State timeout. After the timeout, the Lady Tigers scored the next three points to cut the lead back to three, 16-13, but GS scored eight of the next 10 points to take a nine-point lead, 24-15. The Lady Tigers scored the next three points to close within six points, 24-18, but a kill from the Eagles gave them the seven-point set win and to take a 1-0 match lead.
Georgia Southern scored 15 of the first 18 points in the second frame for a 15-3 lead and outscored SSU 10-6 during the rest of the set to win the set and to take a 2-0 match lead.
After the intermission, the Lady Tigers opened the third stanza scoring six of the first seven points for a 6-1 lead. After back-to-back points from Georgia Southern to cut the lead to three, 6-3, the Lady Tigers scored the next three points for a six-point lead, 9-3. With Savannah State holding a six-point lead at 18-12, the Lady Tigers scored the next six points to take a 23-12 lead. After back-to-back points from the Eagles to cut the lead to 23-14, the Lady Tigers won the set after a block from sophomore outside hitter Charlinda Colbert and senior outside hitter Jademone Jones and a service ace by Masoe for an 11-point set win and to cut GS’s match lead to 2-1.
In the final set, Georgia Southern scored 10 of the first 13 points for a 10-3 lead forcing a Savannah State timeout. After the timeout, the Lady Tigers scored six of the next eight point to close within three points, 12-9, but GS outscored SSU 13-4 during the rest of the set, including the last eight points, to win the set and the match.
The Eagles were led by Katie Bange with 10 kills and added 17 assists for a double-double and nearly missed a triple-double as she added eight digs and Alex Beecher with 19 digs.
The Lady Tigers’ last three matches are on the road starting with a trip to Greensboro, N.C., to face North Carolina A&T State University Friday at 7 p.m.