Aug. 30, 2002

Box Score

STATESBORO, Ga. - Stefanie Pickett and Hilary Gary each had team-high 13 kills and Alyssa Whitehead recorded the first double-double of the season with 10 kills and 13 digs but Georgia Southern came away with a 3-1 victory at the GSU Invitational Friday afternoon.

Georgia Southern opened its season swinging as the Eagles took the first two games 30-12 and 30-24. GSU hit .476 in game one and .571 in game two. Kristin Kasprak had 12 kills and a team-high .476 hitting percentage while serving up 10 aces. Martina Veiglova had 18 kills and 14 digs while hitting .412.

The Samford middles responded in game three to lead the Bulldogs to a 31-29 victory after trailing 27-22. Samford fell behind early in game four and despite a valiant comeback fell 30-22 to drop to 0-2 on the season.

"We played a better match this afternoon," said head coach Kris Dorn. "After game one we stopped thinking about serve receive and began to play well. In games three and four both teams played great volleyball. A day against real competition, I think opened our eyes to what we do well and what we need to work on."

The Bulldogs will return to action on Saturday with two more matches. The first against Charleston Southern at 11 a.m. ET and the Bulldogs will conclude their first tournament of the season against Georgia State at 5 p.m. ET.