Volleyball headed to Atlanta for Sun Belt series at Georgia State - Old Dominion Athletics

Old Dominion (14-3, 3-1 Sun Belt) at Georgia State (10-8, 1-5 Sun Belt)

Match Info – Friday, Oct. 18 at 6 p.m.

Saturday, Oct. 19 at 2 p.m.

Location – GSU Sports Arena (Atlanta, Ga.)

Watch – ESPN+ (Friday | Saturday)

Live Stats – Friday | Saturday

NORFOLK, Va. – Old Dominion volleyball is headed south to Atlanta, Georgia this weekend for a Sun Belt series at Georgia State. First serve at the GSU Sport Arena is scheduled for 6 p.m. on Friday and 2 p.m. on Saturday.

Fans can watch both matches on ESPN+ or follow along with live stats.

Series History

ODU is 4-0 in the all-time series. Following a pair of 3-1 wins in Atlanta on Nov. 4-5, 2022, the Monarchs put together a couple of 3-0 sweeps of the Panthers when they came to Norfolk on Nov. 2-3 last season.

About ODU

The Monarchs (14-3, 3-1 Sun Belt) hosted their Dig Pink Weekend against App State last Friday and Saturday, falling 3-1 in the first match before sweeping the Mountaineers in the second. Myah Conway scored 11 kills, Belcher contributed 30 assists with 11 digs, and LeeAnne Lowery made five blocks to lead ODU in the loss. On Saturday, Bryanna Jones swung for a .313 hitting percentage and scored 14 kill, Elisa Maggi hit .304 with 10 kills and 13 digs, Belcher finished with 37 assists and Emma Schelah had six blocks. Saturday’s victory also tied the program record for wins in a season.

Conway and Maggi pace the offense with 212 and 160 kills, respectively. Belcher ranks fourth in the Sun Belt with 486 assists, followed by Elisbeth Levick with 174. The Monarchs have a balanced and effective group of servers: Maggi owns 23 aces, Schelah is right behind her with 22, Kate Kilpatrick and Hailee Blankenship both own 18, and Levick has served 16. Kilpatrick leads the back row with 226 digs and Lowery is ODU’s leader in blocks with 74, good for third in the conference.

ODU has cracked the Top 100 in RPI, coming in at No. 92 through matches played on Oct. 13. The Monarchs are also tied for second in the Sun Belt’s East Division alongside App State. The team leads the league and ranks 27th nationally with 1.88 aces per set and is first in the SBC and 36th in the country with 124 service aces. ODU is second in the conference in hitting percentage (.235) and third in opponent hitting percentage (.184), team assists (840) and team kills (840).

About Georgia State

The Panthers (10-8, 1-5) are looking to snap a three-match skid after splitting their matches against James Madison on Oct. 4-5 and dropping both matches at Coastal Carolina last weekend, 3-0 and 3-2. In the first match versus the Chanticleers, Peyton Gash finished with 13 kills on a .500 clip while Kaleigh Fitzgerald had 14 digs and Shanelle Martinez had 11. GSU led two sets to one in the second match, but CCU won the fourth set 25-22 and edged the Panthers 15-6 in the decisive set. Akira Burt paced GSU with 12 kills, Keionna Mackey scored 11 and Alessia Cappai contributed 10. Fitzgerald ended up with 24 digs and Kayla Broom made nine blocks.

Mackey is the Sun Belt leader in service aces with 26. The junior outside hitter is also second in points (265), third in total kills (220), and fourth in total attacks (614). Cappai is second on the team with 168 kills, Gash is third with 145, and Akira Burt is fourth with 143. The Panthers use a two-setter system: Martinez owns 377 assists and Patrycja Zielinska has 317. On defense, Fitzgerald has a team-high 250 digs while Broom and Myllena Torquetti have combined for 91 blocks.

GSU is currently sixth in the East Division standings and 194th in the RPI. The Panthers rank second in the Sun Belt in team kills (882), team assists (835) and team service aces (120) and rank third in assists per set (12.28) and aces per set (1.76).

The Panthers are led by Flavia Siqueira, who was named the 10th Head Coach in program history back on March 12, 2024. She was previously Head Coach at Auburn Montgomery for five seasons and compiled an 81-59 record with the Warhawks. Georgia State was picked to finish seventh in the East Division in the Sun Belt’s Preseason Coaches’ Poll.

Up Next

ODU continues its road swing with a pair of matches at Southern Miss next weekend. The Monarchs will square off with the Golden Eagles at 7 p.m. ET on Friday, Oct. 25 and at 1 p.m. ET on Saturday, Oct. 26.