BOONE, N.C.- Appalachian State University volleyball posted a solid effort, but could not muster a comeback after falling behind, and suffered a 3-1 season-ending loss to its Southern Conference rival Georgia Southern, Friday evening, in the quarterfinal round of the Southern Conference Tournament at the Holmes Center. The defeat is Appalachian's second this season to the Eagles and gives the Black and Gold an 18-12 record to close out the 2010 campaign, while GSU improves to 25-8 and advances to the semifinals tomorrow afternoon against Elon.
After falling 25-20 in the first set, the Mountaineers were able to bounce back in second set action.
Second set play was tied five times early on before Maggie Seeds and Caroline Sedon combined for a block assist to put Appalachian on top for good, as the Black and Gold grabbed the 12-11 lead.
Seeds had a stellar offensive outing, as she registered a match-best 14 kills, while also totaling four block assists.
The block assist began an 8-2 Mountaineer streak which proved to be the difference maker in the set, as offensive contributions from Seeds and Sedon enabled the Black and Gold to make the score 20-13 in their favor.
The Eagles were able to pull within three points off of two blocks, but their late effort was not enough and a final Alison Blasingame kill pushed Appalachian to the hard-fought 25-21 second set win.
Unfortunately, that was the only set win of the night for Appalachian as Georgia Southern went on to win the next two.
Once the third set was knotted at eight apiece Kate Van Dyke slammed home a kill and gave GSU the narrow one-point advantage.
The one-point cushion was all the Eagles needed, as Bethany Sanford also contributed to the Eagles' offensive production and earned GSU a five-point cushion, up 20-15 over Appalachian.
Sanford tied teammate Hannah Nelson for the most Eagle kills as the duo each recorded 13.
The Black and Gold were not able to pull any closer than five points, as final ASU hitting and serving miscues proved to be costly and GSU grabbed the seven-point third set victory.
The Apps came out sluggish in the fourth and what would be final set and Georgia Southern took full advantage of Appalachian's lack-luster effort, jumping out to a commanding 14-2 lead.
It was impressive Eagle blocking and five Appalachian offensive errors that propelled GSU to the 12-point advantage.
Back-to-back Meghann Forshey kills sparked a slight Appalachian run, as the Apps scored six straight points to cut its deficit to just nine, down 19-10.
Forshey finished the evening with 10 kills and two digs.
The late rally came up short and the Eagles staved off tournament-host ASU to hand the Mountaineers a 25-16 fourth set and 3-1 match defeat.
Appalachian caps off a strong 2010 season with an 18-12 overall and 9-7 SoCon North Division record, good enough for a third place finish in the division. The Black and Gold returns 13 letterwinners for the 2011 season and graduates senior standouts Caroline Sedon and Lauren Swecker.
