Volleyball comes back to win Invitational

The Georgia State volleyball team starts the season strong (3-0), after coming back to defeat Wright State (3-2) to win the Georgia State Invitational Saturday, August 28th.

With first year Head Coach Tami Audia directing the team, the Panthers came to compete, as all three games were very exciting.

There were several great rallies in the first match against Morehead State.

Senior Audrey Cantrell played with incredible athleticism as she had 10 digs in the first round of the game against Morehead State, with the Panthers winning the round 25 to 23.

In the second round the away team started hitting several short balls. At one point, the Panthers were behind 10 points, with the score at 1-11.

Few easy points were lost due to failed attacks or the ball having gone under the net, leaving the Panthers down 15-25 in the second round.

GeorgiaStatelost the third round as well 19 to 25.

With determination and vigor, the Panthers mounted a comeback with absolute tenacity.

Junior Vineece Verdun was leading the way with the highest percentage of attacks at .368. Senior Ashley Jones was also assisting the team with ferocious attacks, con­tributing to the scoring. Senior Ra­chel Boryc was also making great plays by having impeccable tim­ing when it came to blocking, even managing to get down fast enough for a dropped ball at the net.

The Panthers went up against some tough defense with More­head State, who would also suc­cessfully block balls while making impressive digs against the power­ful Panther offense. But it wasn't enough for Morehead State, as Georgia State won the fourth round by two points.

Just as Morehead State reached the 14th point in the fifth round, the Panthers sided out and ended the night with an impressive kill. Geor­gia State won 16-14, finalizing the first match of the season against Morehead State.

At the game against the Uni­versity of North Florida, the Pan­thers won an easy match with three wins to one loss. The ending scores were, in order, 25-21, 25-11, and 19- 25 and 25-23, according to www. georgiastatesports.com.

Things began to look grim for the Panthers when they played the Wright State Raiders Saturday. Georgia State had lost the momen­tum from the last two wins, falling behind quickly with the loss of the first two rounds.

The Panthers were not to be denied, however, and rallied to win the next three matches in a row, claiming the Georgia State Invita­tional.

The scores were 22-25, 19-25, 26-24, 25-19 and 15-10, according to www.georgiastatesports.com.

"We know now that we can fight back, Junior Chelsea Perry told www.georgiastatesports.com.

"We know that we're fighters, and we know that no matter what the score is, we're not gonna give up."

The top three players to note throughout the tournament had to have been middle hitter Vineece Verdun, defensive specialist and team captain Audrey Cantrell, and freshman Emily Averbeck, who made her debut as a Panther.

Verdunis known for earn­ing all-tournament honors, and throughout the Georgia State Invi­tational, no one can question that fact as her skills and athleticism were showcased in every play.

For her efforts, Verdun was awarded MVP for the Georgia State Invitational.

Cantrell currently holds six Georgia State records as fourth in all-time digs with 1173, first (531) and seventh (417) with most digs per season, first in all-time digs per set and first and fourth in digs per set in a season.

Cantrell led the team's defense in the Georgia State Invitational with the most digs in each game.

Averbeck did extremely well in her matches at Georgia State.

The five-foot-three-inch player was very noticeable when stand­ing amongst her teammates, and she was even more noticeable on the court with her digs and serving power.

The Georgia State Volleyball team will now travel to Fullerton, Ca. this coming weekend on Sept. 3rd and 4th at the Titan Classic. They will face off against Colorado, Cal State-Fullerton and Montana.