Citadel Volleyball Opens Home Slate Against Savannah State

Charleston, S.C. - The Citadel Volleyball team hosts its first home match of the season on Wednesday evening, when they square off against Savannah State at McAlister Field House. Game time is set for 6 p.m., where the Bulldogs look to improve on their 5-7 record all-time in home openers.

Head Coach Carolyn Geiger's squad has spent each of the last two weekends in tournaments hosted by SIU-Edwardsville and Mercer University. In addition, the Dogs also traveled to Charleston Southern and battled the Buccaneers to a grueling five set match.

"Our first home match is always exciting," said Geiger. "It will be nice to compete in our home gym. Coming off a tough weekend, I know we will be playing with purpose and determination in front of the crowd at McAlister Field House."

The Bulldogs are 13-1 in the head-to-head series with Savannah State, winning 13 straight games after dropping the inaugural meeting on Oct. 17, 1998. Every match in the series has been resulted in a 3-0 sweep.

JESTILA CAPS OFF SOLID WEEK: Senior outside hitter Tatum Jestila finished with double-digit kills in three of four matches last week, including an 18 kill. 24 dig outing on Aug. 31 against intercity rival Charleston Southern. She continued her strong play at the Mercer University Tournament when she tallied 11 kills in four games against Presbyterian College and came through with 10 kills against the host Bears. Not only was she a key cog in the Bulldogs front row attack, she accounted for 62 digs in the 15 games. An All-Tournament selection, Jestila finished with 11 and 18 digs respectively in back-to-back matches against Presbyterian College and Mercer.

MAD "MAX": Jessica Maxwell made her defensive impact felt last week for the Bulldogs when she entered the third game of a meeting with Charleston Southern and closed out the match with seven kills and three blocks. Her impact on the Cadets lineup continued over the three-match weekend at Mercer, when she totaled 11 blocks (four solo) in eight games. Maxwell finished with 36 blocks at The Citadel last season and through the first seven matches of the 2010 campaign Maxwell has already denied the opposition on 16 different occasions.

FINDING HER RHYTHM: The Citadel's freshman setter Erin Bucherl appeared in every set for the Cadets over the course of the last week, notching 70 assists. A defensive presence for The Citadel, Bucherl also finished with 29 digs. Bucherl has brought her strong service game to The Citadel lineup, finishing with three service aces in four sets against Presbyterian.

BREAKING DOWN THE COMPETITION

Savannah State (1-5 overall):  In the home opener for the Georgia Southern Volleyball team, the Eagles handled Savannah State for a 3-0 (25-13, 25-12, 25-14) victory Monday evening in Hanner Fieldhouse. The win pushed Georgia Southern to 3-4 overall this season, while dropping Savannah State to 1-5.

Savannah State was held to a -.087 hitting percentage led by Keandra Lewis and Bryana Gadis, each contributing four kills.

The Tigers opened each frame taking the early lead, but Georgia Southern finished strong completing the sweep over the Tigers.

After falling behind 2-0 in the opening set, the Eagles surged ahead taking a 4-3 lead. Four unanswered Eagle points put Georgia Southern in front, 8-4, before the Tigers pulled the score to 9-7 following an Eagle service error. The Tigers called a timeout at 17-11 before Georgia Southern capped the opening set with an 8-2 run highlighted by two Jeschelnik kills.

The third set followed the same pattern, as Savannah State took an early 3-1 lead followed by a 7-0 Georgia Southern run to take the lead, 8-3. The Eagles closed out the match on a 4-0 run, all coming off Tiger errors, to secure the match with a 25-14 victory. Nelson recorded three kills in the frame while hitting at a .750 clip, and Johnson posted two kills for a .500 hitting efficiency.

For more information on Bulldog Volleyball, go to the official website of The Citadel Athletics, www.CitadelSports.com.