Box Score

ELON, N.C. – A comeback to win the third set was not enough for the Phoenix to defeat the reigning Southern Conference Tournament champions of Georgia Southern as Elon fell 3-1 (23-25, 16-25, 25-21, 25-19) inside Alumni Gym. The loss drops Elon to 14-9 on the season (3-5 SoCon), while the Eagles improve to 13-11 (5-3 SoCon).
 
“Even though we lost the match, we did some good things today,” said Elon volleyball coach Mary Tendler. “Our offense kept getting better and better as the match went on and our block was solid. It was good to see Danielle (Smith) and Chanelle (Smith) taking some aggressive swings on the outside. We look to put this loss behind us and put out a good effort in our upcoming road matches.”
 
Freshman Danielle Smith led the Phoenix attack with 11 kills off 27 attempts and one error to hit .370. Freshman Chanelle Smith recorded a double-double with 10 kills and 14 digs.
 
On defense, junior Ali Deatsch finished with 19 digs, while freshman Kris Harris had six total blocks.
 
In the first set, a kill by C. Smith cut Georgia Southern’s early lead to four, 12-8, but the Eagles went on to score four straight for an eight point advantage. From there, the Phoenix used a three-point run off kills from senior Traci Stewart and junior Carly Ledbetter to close the gap to five, 16-11. After a kill by GSU’s Meredith Paskert put the Eagles up 20-15, Elon scored seven of the next 11 points to pull within two, 24-22. The Eagles would go on to win the set two points later, 25-23, for a 1-0 match lead.
 
Georgia Southern jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the second set, forcing Elon to call an early timeout. Out of the timeout, the Phoenix scored off a block from Harris. With the Eagles up by five, 10-5, the maroon and gold earned four of the next six points off three kills from D. Smith and one from Harris to cut the deficit to three, 12-9. GSU was able to build up a 17-11 lead and carry that momentum through the rest of the set to a 25-16 win.
 
After falling behind 8-6 in the third set, Elon scored four straight off the serve of sophomore Maggie Reichard to take a 10-8 advantage. The Eagles came back to tie the set at 11-all but the score remained close with neither team taking more than a two-point advantage. Up by one, 20-19, the Phoenix scored five of the final seven points, which included kills from sophomore Cali Estes and C. Smith and blocks by Estes and senior Caroline Lemke and Harris and Stewart, to earn its first set win of the match, 25-21.
 
With Georgia Southern holding a 14-6 lead to start the fourth set, Elon was able to cut the Eagles’ advantage to five, 16-11, with a kill by C. Smith and a block by Harris and Stewart. Down by seven, 22-15, Elon scored three unanswered off a C. Smith kill and two from Estes to make it 22-18. However, the Eagles were able to hang on to its lead and went on to win the set, 25-19, and the match, 3-1.
 
Elon will play next at North Carolina A&T on Tuesday, Oct. 18. The match is scheduled to start at 6 p.m.