On Friday night, the Georgia Southern Eagles traveled to Boone, North Carolina for a rematch against an all-too-familiar team, Appalachian State University.

The Mountaineers, who beat the Eagles earlier in the season, boasted a record of 18-6 (8-6) before the match.The Eagles held a 7-18 (6-9) record.

The last time the Eagles played the Mountaineers, they lost 3-0. In that match, Emily Corrigan boasted 20 kills for the Mountaineers while Cathrine Murray led the team in kills for the Eagles with 12. Kym Coley was right behind her in that list with 11.

In the first set, the Eagles immediately got knocked down with a 25-10 defeat. In fact, there was one point in the match where the Mountaineers took the score from 5-2 to 11-2, scoring six straight points without the Eagles being able to retaliate. There was also not a single lead change in the first set, nor was there ever a tie score.

The Eagles came back strong in the second set, immediately taking a 2-0 lead. This set ended up being fairly wishy-washy, with each team having long strides of momentum. However, when the Eagles hit 20 points, the Mountaineers decided to crush the Eagles’ hope and take the score from 18-20 to 25-22, bringing them within one set of sweeping the Eagles this season.

The third set once again did not have a single lead change as the Mountaineers took the lead quickly and did not relinquish it. The Eagles performed like they did in the second set, but when the set got close to ending, the Mountaineers were able to rally against them. In fact, App State scored five straight points to nearly close the match at 24-16. The Eagles would score one more before the Mountaineers ended it, giving the final set a score of 25-17.

If there was one thing the Mountaineers did right, it was limiting the attack of GSU. Only one Eagle had double digit kills with only 10, and that was Kym Coley. The Mountaineers had three players with double digit kills, and Jess Keller was only three away from having 20. The Eagles also never had an attacking percentage higher than 20, while the Mountaineers never dropped below 20.

The Eagles’ next match will be against UALR in Little Rock. This match-up will be a tough one for the Eagles, as UALR is currently undefeated in conference play.