Birmingham,
Ala. (8/26/2011) - The Arkansas State volleyball team opened the 2011 season
with a 3-0 (25-23, 25-22, 25-18 ) sweep over Akron before falling to
Alabama-Birmingham 3-2 (25-22, 19-25, 28-26, 20-25, 15-12) after the first day
of play the Samford/UAB Invitational.
The Red
Wolves (1-1) opened the tournament with a victory over Akron behind a solid
performance from Cayla Fielder. The senior finished with 12 kills, which put
her over 1,000 kills in her career as a Red Wolf. Taylor Szypulski finished
with 10 kills and 10 digs, while sophomore libero Megan Baska added 12 digs. Allison
Kearney had 22 assists and Jasmine Terry finished with 11 assists. A'Zlynn
Thompson added 11 assists in her first match as a Red Wolf.
In set
one ASU trailed 17-20 before rallying behind Fielder and Szypulski to tie the
set at 22. Syzpulski gave the Red Wolves a 23-22 lead and Shelby Crncic
followed with back-to-back kills to give ASU a set point opportunity. A service
error gave the Red Wolves the victory and the squad took the momentum into sets
two and three to complete the sweep.
In the
Red Wolves second match of the day the team fell to UAB despite fighting off
five straight match points in the deciding fifth set. UAB led 14-7, but the Red
Wolves closed the gap to 14-12 thanks to ball handling errors from the Lady
Blazers and back-to-back kills from Szypulski. However, the rally fell short as
UAB took the next point to close out the match.
"The
first tournament of every season is typically filled with nerves, limited
scouting and inconsistencies," ASU volleyball coach Justin Ingram said. "Even
though there were glimpses of great moments, we need to steady out tomorrow and
play like we do each day at practice. Although Akron and UAB were both
talented, Samford has tremendous offensive abilities and will require us to be
better for longer stretches in order to win."
Baska
led the team with 40 digs during the match and Allison Kearney led the way with
38 assists. Fielder finished with 18 kills, while Szypulski added 13 kills and
10 digs. Ashley Tipps finished with 15 digs and Jasmine Terry collected 10
kills. Crncic finished with 10 digs and two aces and Thompson finished with 18
assists.
Arkansas
State returns to action Saturday at 4 p.m. against Samford in the tournament
finale.
