Sept. 14, 2004

Box Score

Statesboro, GA - The Georgia Southern volleyball team opened the defense of their Southern Conference crown Tuesday evening at Hanner Fieldhouse, topping The Citadel in four games in the conference openers for both schools.

The Eagles (2-3, 1-0 SoCon) won game one by a 30-11 margin, as Georgia Southern hit a match-best .464 attack percentage to a match-low -.143 mark for the Bulldogs (2-6, 0-1 SoCon). Game two saw the Eagles come out on top by a 30-25 score before The Citadel responded by taking game three 30-28, giving the Bulldogs their first ever game victory over Georgia Southern.

The Bulldogs were able to stay close in game four, as the two clubs were deadlocked at 14-14, before the Eagles broke away by scoring six of the next seven points. Senior Kristen Kasprak clinched the match soon after on her seventh kill of the night, as Georgia Southern came out as victors by a 30-22 advantage.

Junior Iulia Porumbescu notched her fifth double-double in six matches with 18 kills and 12 digs, while also putting up a .394 percentage. Fellow junior Cristie Mitchell added a career-high 14 kills and a .500 mark while senior Janice Pressley had 11 kills with a .563 success rate. Susan Winkelman's season-high 35 assists led the Eagle setters.

Citadel senior Audra Ritchie led the Bulldog offense with 14 kills and a .258 percentage while she was helped by the 14 digs of junior Samantha Parisi and 41 assists of Katie Livingston.

The Eagles will head back to action on Saturday for the Virginia Commonwealth Invitational in Richmond, Va., where they will face off with the host Rams, Fairfield and Mercer. The Citadel will participate next in the South Carolina State Tournament in Orangeburg, S.C. this weekend.