The Presbyterian College volleyball team used 45 kills, including 12 from senior Andrea Barman and freshman Halle Tripp, to defeat the Georgia State Panthers, 3-1 (25-14, 25-17, 15-25, 25-16), in its second game of the UAB/Samford Classic being held in Birmingham, Ala., Aug. 30-31. The Blue Hose, who move to 1-1 on the year, rebounded for their first win of the season after dropping the opening match to Samford, 3-0 (13-25, 15-25, 17-25).
Three Blue Hose posted double-digit kills, two of them coming from the freshman class. Following Barman and Tripp's 12, was Lena Gavin with her 10 on the night. Frank performed solidly with 39 assists, with Mary Trimpe taking care of the defense with 28 digs.
Leading the way for the Panthers was Dede Bohannon, with her 14 kills, and Emily Averback with 13 digs.
The Blue Hose finished the four-game match with 45 kills and 19 errors for a .228 hitting pct., and held Georgia State to .107, with its 37 kills and 24 errors. PC led the way with 6.0 total blocks, with Barman pacing the squad with three block assists and one block solo.
Tied 7-7 in game one, PC used multiple kills from Kelly Berryman, Hall and Gavin to build a 19-10 lead off the 12-3 run. The Panthers could get the margin back to seven, 20-13, before falling by the final 25-13 score.
Much of the same story evolved in game two with a 6-6 tie becoming a 19-10 Blue Hose lead and an eventual 25-17 win.
After stumbling in the third game, 15-25, the Blue Hose raced to a 19-9 lead in game four after capitalizing on a match-high .417 hitting percentage, while holding GSU to just .059. The Panthers cut the margin to eight, 14-22, but a kill by Barman and back-to-back miscues by GSU helped the Blue Hose take the game and match win.
The Blue Hose struggled offensively in the opener against Samford, posting 16 kills, compared 42 for the Bulldogs. Leading PC in kills was Rachel Hall with six. Emily Meitz paced Samdord with 10 on the afternoon.
Samford led from start to finish in the first two games, but PC made it a game in the third with six ties and the lead on several occasions. Tied 11-11, the Bulldogs scored 11 of the next 14 points to build a 22-14 lead. PC cut it to 23-17, highlighted by a block assist from Berryman and Hall that made it a seven-point game. After a Samford kill to set up match point, the Bulldogs finished it off with a block assist from Katie Murphy and Erin Bognar to take the 25-17 win
The Blue Hose round out tournament action Saturday with UAB at 11 a.m., and Jacksonville State at 1:30 p.m. The matches will be played at the Bartow Arena on UAB's campus. PC returns home Tues. Sept. 3 at 7 p.m., to take on the Appalachian State Mountaineers.
