BOONE, N.C. – Appalachian State University volleyball fell to Southern Conference rival Georgia Southern by a 3-1 final on Homecoming Weekend on Saturday at the Holmes Center.

The Mountaineers (5-15, 1-5 SoCon) were able to bounce back after losses in the first two sets to grab a third-set victory, but the Eagles (13-6, 4-1) steadied themselves to close the Apps out in four sets by scores of 25-20, 25-15, 21-25 and 25-19.

Georgia Southern snagged an early 9-4 lead in the first set before the Apps reeled off a 5-0 run to knot the match at 9-9. The teams would trade blows throughout the remainder of the set before the Eagles prevailed by a score of 25-20.

In the second set, Georgia Southern struck early and raced out to an 8-1 lead. The Mountaineers were never able to really threaten as the Eagles cruised to a 25-15 second-set win.

Appalachian came out strong in the third set  as it never trailed after snagging a 3-0 lead early on. The Apps would turn back Georgia Southern at every point throughout the remainder of the set to take a 25-21 set victory.

The elation would be short-lived, however, as the Eagles took the fourth and final set of the night by a 25-20 final. The Mountaineers were able to hang on early, but Georgia Southern pulled away late for the set victory and a 3-1 match win.

Lindsey Sauls led App State with 15 kills on the night while Jacqui Spurgeon and Dalton Tolliver finished with 12 and 10, respectively.

Courtney Rhein finished with 15 digs while Lauren Brown tallied 42 assists on the night.

Georgia Southern was paced my Meredith Paskert's match-high 16 kills  while Nicole Jeschelnik finished with 13. Kate Van Dyke recorded a match-high 43 assists.

The Eagles hit .262 on the attack while limiting the Mountaineers to .158 and tallied 13 blocks to App State's four.

Appalachian State returns to action next weekend when they take on SoCon foes Wofford (Oct. 12) and Furman (Oct. 13)

MATCH NOTES: The Mountaineers dropped to 27-12 all-time against Georgia Southern... Rhein needs just 149 more digs to become App State's all-time leader... she has recorded 1,679 career digs and needs 21 more to move into second all-time... Saturday's loss marked the first time since 2009 that the Mountaineers have dropped back-to-back home matches and the first time since 2008 that the Apps dropped back-to-back SoCon matches at the Holmes Center.