JONESBORO, AR ? The Arkansas State volleyball team won its third straight match as the Lady Indians downed regional rival Memphis, 3-0 (30-26, 30-22, 30-23) on Tuesday night at the Convocation Center. The victory extended the Lady Indians home winning streak to 19 straight matches dating back to 2003.
“Anytime these two teams meet up it is going to be very intense and tonight we dictated the match the very beginning,” head coach Craig Cummings said. “We played with a lot of heart tonight and we fed off of the emotion of being on our home court against a rival like Memphis.”
Junior libero Randilyne Volkmer, the reigning Sun Belt Defensive Player of the Week, highlighted the spirited Tribe effort as she tied her career-high with 27 digs in the three-game victory. Volkmer has now eclipsed 20 or more digs five times this season and three of the last four matches.
Senior outside hitters Kristin Kirby led the offensive effort as she posted 11 kills on a stellar .391 hitting percentage. Classmate Pip Soulsby also added 11 kills while sophomore middle hitter Robin Aaron chipped in nine kills in the victory.
The two teams came out in game one and played back and forth as there were eight tie scores in the game. The Lady Indians (6-8) took the first substantial lead of the match courtesy of a 7-1 run that put ASU up, 16-10. Kirby notched a pair of kills in the run and tallied a service ace to spark the Tribe.
Memphis (8-7) battled back and posted a 9-3 run of its own to knot the game back up at 19-19. The Lady Indians had a response as they went on a 6-2 run that saw Kirby notched a pair of kills and freshman outside hitter Natalie Lundquist pick up a kill. The Tribe held on for the opening game victory as Soulsby and Kirby each had four kills in game as the Tribe totaled 19 kills. Volkmer led the charge defensively with nine of the Tribe's 21 digs in the first game.
The Lady Indians came out in game two and took advantage of some poor hitting by Memphis as the Lady Indians led for most of the game. The Tribe held the Tigers to a .000 hitting percentage in the game as it forced Memphis into 10 attack errors. Soulsby sparked the Lady Indians with five kills while Kirby added four kills including three in a game breaking 9-2 run by ASU.
The Tribe closed out the match in game three in convincing fashion as the Lady Indians held the lead from the fourth point of the game to the very end. The Lady Indian attack heated up in game three as the Tribe posted a .303 hitting percentage with 13 kills. Lundquist and Aaron highlighted the attack in game three as both players recorded four kills apiece.
Lundquist, a Fort Smith, AR native, posted a career-high seven kills in the three-game victory. Sophomore setter Katie Peil dished out 34 assists as the Lady Indians won their 13 of the last 15 matches against Memphis.
The Tigers were led by outside hitter Nancy Nellans as she posted a match-high 15 kills while adding 13 digs. Melissa Nance chipped in 11 kills and Christen Clayton added 14 digs in the losing effort.
The Lady Indians will be back in action on Friday night as they step back into Sun Belt Conference action with a pivotal match up against East Division rival Middle Tennessee. The match is set for a 7 p.m. start at the Convocation Center.
