Huskies Battle to Five-Set Win Over Georgia Southern

Saturday, August 25

Morgantown, W.V.

12:00 PM

University of Connecticut

2-1

Georgia Southern

0-3

Georgia Southern

UConn

Photo by: Stephen Slade

8/25/2018 3:16:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

Rookie Parker Posts 23 Kills

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – UConn freshman Caylee Parker (Windsor, Ontario) turned in a 23 kill, 12 dig, three block performance to help lead the Huskies to a five-set comeback victory over Georgia Southern at the WVU Invitational on Saturday. It was the Huskies second five-set come from behind win on the weekend as they improve to 2-1 on the year.

Parker paced the UConn attack that featured three players with double digit kills. She posted her first career double double and had her second-straight match with double digit kills after recording 16 in last night's lost to West Virginia.

R-Senior Danielle Cabel (Bettendorf, Iowa) had 11 kills while classmate Iman McGary (Rockford, Ill.) chipped in with 10 kills and five digs. Senior setter Emma Turner (Winter Park, Fla.) passed out 46 assists and served up three of the Huskies six aces on the day. Turner along with r-sophomore Genna Florig (Portland, Ore.) each had four total blocks to lead the team.

Parker along with senior Elizabeth Kline (Glenshaw, Pa.) were both named to the WVU Invitational All-Tournament team.

Huskies dominated the first, 25-8, hitting .545 with 13 kills on 22 attacks with just one error. The Huskies sprinted out to an 8-2 lead to force a GSU time-out and didn't let up from their, closing the first set by outscoring the Eagles 16-6 including a 6-0 run to close out the set. Parker led the way collecting five kills in the first.

The Eagles answered in a tight second set that featured 12 ties and five lead changes, helped by four UConn service aces. Tied up at 17-17 in the third set, UConn used a 3-0 spurt fueled by a Parker kill and block to force a GSU time-out. The Huskies looked to close it out, up 23-20 and 24-21 but the Eagles refused to falter. GSU closed out the third set with a 5-0 run with a pair of Lauren Reichard kills and three UConn attack errors.

In the fourth set, GSU built a 14-12 lead before a UConn 6-0 rally turned the tide. UConn built their lead to 22-18 forcing a final Georgia Southern time-out and put the set away thanks to a Cabel kill, 25-21. Parker came up huge in the fourth set, posting seven kills while classmate Anna Petrova came off the bench to chip in four kills.

The Huskies opened the fifth deciding set with four-straight points to force a GSU time-out. The Huskies went up 10-7 but the Eagles battled back to pull even at 10-10 to force the Huskies into a time-out. A service error and attack error put Georgia Southern up 12-11 but the Huskies continued to battle. Parker, who had five kills in the final set, got three on a 5-2 run to close out the match. Tied at 14-14, Parker picked-up her 23^rd kill of the match and Turner served up her third ace to seal the win.

The Huskies will be back in action on Tuesday, August 28 for their 2018 home opener when they host Quinnipiac at Gampel Pavilion at 7 pm.