The Georgia State University volleyball team fell to Southern Methodist in four sets to open the Denver Invitational on Friday evening. The Panthers (0-10) got off to a sluggish start, but fought back in the second set and then took the third set, before falling in the fourth to the Mustangs who improved to 7-5.
The Panthers would come out a little sluggish in the first set and fall behind 6-2 early, however, on several errors on the part of the Mustangs and kills by senior Liz Schaab and sophomore Ashley Jones, State would take a 7-6 lead early in the set. An 11-1 run by SMU would be too much for the Panthers to handle though, as SMU took a 17-8 lead midway though the set. State would not get closer than that nine-point deficit, eventually falling 25-13.
The second set would be much tighter and come right down to the end. The Panthers would take an early 4-1 lead before the Mustangs would use a 5-1 run to take an early 6-5 lead. After the Panthers tied it at six, SMU would take the lead and go ahead by as many as four, but the Panthers continued to battle back and on an attack error by SMU's Dana Powell, State would tie the match at 19. The two squads would exchange the next six points before SMU would finish out the set with a 3-0 run, taking the set 25-22.
“We saw progress in the things that we have been working on in practice,” commented Head Coach Mike Webster. “Our defense needs to continue to give us more opportunities as it started to tonight.”
SMU would come out on the attack to start the third set, but Georgia State, as it has been all season, would not go quietly and would be rewarded for it. The Mustangs started the set on a 6-0 run and would go up 12-6 midway through the set. The Panthers would continue to trail by six, as a kill by SMU's Kathryn Wilkerson put the Mustangs up 16-10. The Panthers would go on a 9-5 run to cut the deficit to two and then on back-to-back attacked errors by SMU's Jessica Oliver, the Panthers would tie the match at 22. SMU would get their first match point at 24-23, however, State would not be denied. On a kill by Schaab, followed by an ace by junior Jocelyn Waldern, the Panthers would take their first lead of the set. After SMU tied it at 25, a service error by SMU and a kill by Jones would give the Panthers the set, 27-25.
Unfortunately, the magic would not continue. State would come out strong to start the fourth and the set would be tied at five, but a 9-1 run by SMU would be a deficit State could not overcome. The Panthers would cut the deficit to five late (21-16), but that is the closest that they would get, falling in the fourth, 25-17.
The Panthers were led by Jones' 12 kills, while Schaab added 10. Redshirt sophomore Audrey Cantrell continued to lead the team in digs, adding 24 to her season high, while junior Jessica Tjaden added 32 assists.
For SMU, Dana Powell scored 17 kills, while Wilkerson added 12 and Natalie Peters added 11.
The Panthers will return to the court on Saturday afternoon when they take on host Denver at 2:30 p.m. The tournament will conclude later that evening when State takes on UNLV at 7:30 p.m.
“We will face two very different styles of play on Saturday,” commented Webster after tonight's match. “We just need to do the things that we can control and have been working on in practice.”
Live stats of the Denver Invitational can be found via www.georgiastatesports.com.
