HARRISONBURG, Va. – Sophomore Jazmine Daye had her best match in two seasons with five points for the North Carolina Central University volleyball team in a 3-0 loss to Georgia State University in the Lady Eagles final match of the James Madison University Invitational Saturday afternoon.
 
The Panthers launched 14 aces and hit .250 to move back over .500 at 2-1. NCCU left the season-opening tournament winless at 0-3.  
 
NCCU HIGHLIGHTS & STATS:
Daye garnered her five points with three kills and three total blocks (one solo, two block assists).
 
Senior Casey Curran led the Lady Eagles offense for a second-straight tilt with six kills. Sophomore Whitney White was the most efficient attacker with five kills on 17 tries with just one error for a .235 hitting percentage.
 
Junior setter Paige Phillips setup NCCU's offense that had a .074 hitting percentage with 14 assists.
 
Sophomore libero Bree Simmons supplied double digit digs for a second straight match with 14 digs.
 
GSU HIGHLIGHTS & STATS:
Senior Kristina Stinson and sophomore Anna Rantala led Georgia State with 11 kills apiece. Rantala added four aces and two block assists for a 16-point performance while missing a double-double by one dig after scooping up nine digs.
 
Sophomore setter Sarah Renner orchestrated the hot-hitting Panthers attack with 32 assists.
 
Freshman Celeste Friesen led a pack of five Panthers with at least eight digs with a team-high 11 digs.
 
Renner and Friesen added three aces apiece as GSU scored nearly 20-percent of its points from the service game.
 
SET-BY-SET:
1ST: A block by Daye, her third of the set, inched NCCU within one point of Georgia State at 21-20, but the Panthers won the next four points to close out a tight opening set. A kill by Curran and an ace by White had the Lady Eagles up 10-8 before a 6-1 run by GSU put the victors ahead for good. NCCU stayed within a couple points for most of the set before the Panthers last push. White and Curran each tallied three kills in the frame.
 
2ND: Georgia State served up five aces for a second straight set, including three in its first 11 points, to grab a quick eight-point advantage at 11-3. The Panthers maintained a sizable lead from that point en route to the 12-point win. Stinson helped GSU to its most lopsided set by producing five of her 11 kills in the stanza.
 
3RD: NCCU raced out to a 9-4 lead with kills by Curran, Phillips, senior Kelsey Murphy and sophomore Kierra Shipman and lastly on an ace by Murphy. The Panthers rallied to square the set at 9-all before a kill by Phillips gave the Lady Eagles their last edge at 10-9. GSU catapulted ahead and grabbed a four-point lead twice but a 3-1 NCCU run that witnessed a pair of kills by White pulled the Lady Eagles within two at 19-17. The Panthers responded by winning six of the next eight points to close out the match. Rantala had six kills in the game, including her 11th of the day on match point, and Georgia State hit a whopping .419 in the last set.
 
OTHER NOTES, STATS & FACTS:
Georgia State improved to 2-0 all-time against NCCU. The first meeting occurred during the 2009 season in Durham.
 
UP NEXT:
NCCU has two weeks to prepare for its next tournament, the UNC Asheville Invitational on Friday-Saturday, Sept. 9-10. For more information, fans are encouraged to visit www.NCCUEaglePride.com.