Georgia Southern’s Volleyball Team looked to get their first win in Gainesville, but will have to wait until this weekend for that possibility after losing all three games in the Active Ankle Challenge. Not all was bad, however. Kym Coley was named to the All-Tournament Team averaging .64 blocks per set, along with 2.45 kills per set.

Florida (0-3 L):

GSU started off strong against the Gators taking the first lead of the first set, however this lead didn’t last as a 1-0 Eagle lead quickly turned into a 4-1 Gator lead. The Eagles would only lead two more times throughout this first set, which ended up resulting in a 25-19 defeat. The second set didn’t go any better as Florida immediately took a 7-0 lead against the Eagles, and it didn’t get any better as the Eagles wouldn’t be able to take a lead the entire set. They ended up losing that set 25-11.GSU only had one more chance to possibly come back against the Gators but unfortunately the third set just turned into more of the same. It started close with a 2-2 tie early in the set, but 2-2 quickly turned into 20-10. Georgia Southern ended up losing 25-15 which marked the first loss of the season.

Oklahoma (1-3 L):

GSU went into the second match going up against Oklahoma who won their first match against Idaho. The first set against Oklahoma ended up being a very close affair with seven different ties throughout the set. However the Eagles took control with four straight points to make the lead 20-17, including two kills from Jamie DeRatt. This 20-17 lead would end up being a 25-20 win for the Eagles, their first winning set of the season. The second set ended up being another close one with four different ties throughout the set. The Eagles definitely lost most of their momentum though when the Sooners went on a seven point romp early in the set taking a 12-7 lead. Ga. Southern wouldn’t be able to come back from this and lost the second set 25-20. The third set ended up having four different lead changes before the first ten points. This set really got interesting near the end with a 20-20 tie, a 21-21 tie, and a 22-22 tie. It all came down to a 24-23 Oklahoma lead when Micaela Spann got the kill to give Oklahoma the 25-23 win. The fourth set ended up being more of the same with multiple back and forths between the Eagles and the Sooners. The Sooners had three different three point attacks that resulted in them winning the set, 25-18. This 25-18 win also gave them the match which led the Eagles to their second loss of the season.

Idaho (1-3 L)

Both GSU and Idaho went into the match on Saturday with an 0-2 record, so despite what happened earlier in the tournament, one of these teams was not going to leave it without a win. The Eagles came on strong early in the first set with a four point romp to give them an 8-6 lead. They finished this first set just as strongly as they started it with four straight points to give them the 25-22 win over Idaho. The second set looked to be more of the same from the Eagles as they started the set leading 6-2. However the Vandals weren’t going to go down easy as they scored 6 straight points to reverse the lead and make the score 8-6. This definitely put the momentum in Idaho’s favor as they ended up making the score 16-9. But the Eagles weren’t out as they went on a 6 point comeback to tie the set 18-18. They score two more points and took the lead late, 20-18. The Eagles got as close as they were going to get to winning this second set with a 24-21 lead, but it just wasn’t enough as the Vandals came back to win 26-24. The third set was just as tense as the second with neither team scoring more than two more points before their opponent came right back with some of points of their own. Of course this was until Idaho decided to take this set into their own hands scoring four straight points and making the score 17-13. This was the beginning of the end for the Eagles as Idaho continued their punishment and finished the set winning 25-20. The Eagles were determined to not lose the fourth set against Idaho by holding them off to begin with and even taking a 9-6 lead early. However Idaho wasn’t going to give this one up so easily and score five straight points to take the lead, 11-6. The Eagles came back strong with a three straight point attack, immediately followed by four more straight points to retake the lead 16-12. However just as the entire tournament went for the Eagles, they couldn’t keep the momentum for long as Idaho came back with three straight points, and then another five straight points to silence the Eagles with a 21-17 lead, however the Eagles stayed resilient and managed to tie the set up at 23 points, however it wouldn’t be enough as Idaho stayed strong and won the set 26-24.

So GSU starts its season 0-3 (0-0) and will have a chance to get its first win of the season this weekend as the Eagles travel to Boulder, Colorado for the Colorado Tournament. There, they’ll go up against Pittsburgh, Colorado and Portland State.