10-26-24
After the jubilant ride home from ULM and picking up its first two conference wins of the season, the Marshall Thundering Herd Volleyball Team (11-10) hosted the Georgia State Panthers (12-8) at the Cam Henderson Center on Oct. 25 and 26.
The Sun Belt Conference changed the format of the conference tournament, deciding to only include the top five teams from each division based on regular season division win percentage. The Panthers came in sitting sixth in the SBC East with a 3-3 divisional record, and the Herd defended its home court with a 0-6 SBC East record, looking up from the bottom of the division standings.
The matches played between the two squads were absolute dog fights as 5/8 sets were decided by four points or less. The Panthers showed their experience as they closed out sets in crunch time, resulting in two 3-1 victories.
GSU was led in the series by the duo of graduate student right side hitter Peyton Gash and junior outside hitter Keionna Mackey, who tallied 28 and 21 kills, respectively, throughout the contests. Mackey was also able to accumulate five blocks and 25 digs during the series, while Gash totaled four blocks and an impressive .338% attacking percentage as well (that is kills minus errors, divided by total attacking attempts).
The Herd was led once again by junior middle blocker Beatrice Ciccarelli as she came off being named the Sun Belt Defensive Player of the Week last week with 29 kills, a .368% attacking percentage, and 15 blocks. She stayed hot this weekend and racked up 10 blocks and 32 kills at a .350% attacking percentage. Ciccarelli is now sixth in the SBC with a season attacking percentage of .320%, and fifth in the conference with 85 blocks.
Marshall has a young squad this season, with only two seniors and two grad students on the roster. Along with that, the Herd has eleven underclassmen and nine players of freshman eligibility. These young numbers have resulted in some growing pains as a team.
This season, Marshall Volleyball has had moments where it shows what it can be at its best, but many times it ends up struggling to close out sets as the players learn to win as a team. For instance, in the second set of the Friday game against the Panthers, the Herd took a 25-13 win, and they managed to outscore GSU in the game overall, yet still lost in four sets. The future is bright for Herd Volleyball, but this season it is still trying to put everything together as they gain more experience on the court.
Marshall remains at the bottom of the East Division, while Georgia State shot up to third after the series.
The Herd will cross the Appalachians to Old Dominion University for a two-game trip next weekend, with the first game on Friday at 6 p.m., and the second on Saturday at 2 p.m.