Wednesday night at the Sports Arena was the site of this year’s season opener for Georgia State volleyball. That home opener ended in defeat for the Panthers as they were defeated by the Western Carolina Catamounts in straight sets.
The first half of the opening set went back and forth with Georgia State in front 7-6 before Western Carolina went on a 13-7 run to pull ahead 20-12. The Panthers attempted a late rally as the set was nearing its close before the Catamounts won the first set 25-19. Senior Jordan Timmerman had five kills in the opening set while Deidra Bohannon led the Georgia State offensive attack with seven.
The second set started promising for the Panthers before Western Carolina eventually tied it up and went in front. Scoringwise, it was the most competitive set of the match, with Western Carolina winning 25-23.
The Catamounts opened the final set with a 6-2 run before Georgia State rallied to nearly tie it up at 9-8. After that, Western Carolina would score nine of the following 13 points en route to a 25-18 win for the set and the match.
Timmerman finished the game with sixteen kills and seven digs. Junior setter Cristina Nazario also had sixteen assists as the Catamounts’ defeat over the Panthers is their first on the season. Western Carolina also had five blocks. Their record improves to 1-3.
Bohannon had 19 of the Panthers’ 41 kills in addition to 17 digs. Natalia Nieto finished the match with 38 of Georgia State’s 41 kills. The Panthers’ record now stands at 1-3.
Georgia State will now travel to Jacksonville, Florida to play three matches this weekend as part of the Jax Marriott Volleyball Classic. They will play Bethune-Cookman and North Florida on Friday and Jacksonville on Saturday.
