So they finally did it, the Georgia Southern Eagles finally won a match. Now they’re on their way home to go up against two tough opponents, one who they’ve already lost to earlier this season. This is when the Eagles can turn their season around.

Troy (Oct 3rd, 6 p.m.):

This isn’t the first time the Eagles faced Troy this season, but this will be the first time they go up against the Trojans at home. In order for Ga. Southern to win this rematch against Troy, they are going to need to do something they failed to do last time: finish the job.

The Eagles looked amazing in their first set against Troy, winning 25-13, but what happens in the first set doesn’t matter nearly as much as what happens in the winning set. A main reason the Eagles’ performance did not stay strong was that they pulled off a 92 percent attacking percentage in their first set, but could barely break 50 percent in the next three.

Another focus for Friday night is three key Troy players, Symone Shaw, Darby Griff and Blair Winston. All three of those players had double digit kills against the Eagles. This will definitely be a close matchup, considering how the last three sets ended with a point differential of four points or less.

UALR (Oct 5th, noon):

If the Eagles thought their matchup against Appalachian State was tough, then they are going to be in for a rude awakening Sunday when they have to battle against the UALR Trojans. Currently, UALR is second in the conference, has a five game win streak and has not lost a conference game yet this season.

Their outside hitter, Edina Begic, has won the Sun Belt Offensive Player of the Week award for the second week in a row. On top of that, UALR played Appalachian State on Sunday and beat them 3-1. The Trojans nearly shut out a team the Eagles could not win one set against.

The UALR cumulative season stat sheet practically spells out disaster for the Eagles, considering eight of their ten total wins came from shut outs. The big question is, do the Eagles actually stand a chance?

That answer lies in Senior Kym Coley who actually boasts a better attacking percentage than Begic. That’s about all the Eagles have going for them, other than the fact that the two matches that UALR managed to lose were away. If the Eagles manage to pull off the miracle here and beat UALR, then the theory that the losing slump the Eagles had in the beginning of the season was just a slump might actually stand some ground.

Unfortunately for Eagle fans, Ga. Southern got it’s first win on the road, but if the team can play as well as they did on the road against UL Monroe, then there’s no reason why they can’t have a win at Statesboro High Shool.