NATCHITOCHES, La. (9/16/11) – The Arkansas State volleyball team picked a pair victories over Alcorn State and Central Arkansas after the first day of play at the Holiday In Express Invitational on the campus of Northwestern State University.
The Red Wolves swept Alcorn State 25-4, 25-5, 25-4 in the morning first match and then ended the day with a 25-20, 25-19, 25-22 sweep over Central Arkansas. ASU is now 5-0 in matches that have gone just three sets this season.
Against Alcorn State the Red Wolves (8-5) finished with a season-high 19 aces, just three off the all-time record for aces in a single match by an ASU team set in 2007 against Centenary. Allison Kearney set a season-high with seven aces. Kelsie Hodge, Megan Baska and Sadie Clark finished with three aces each.
Arkansas State never trailed in any set against Alcorn State and was led by Taylor Coughlin's eight kills. She also finished with a .571 attacking percentage, while Hodges finished a .714 percentage.
"Today was a very good win for
our volleyball program. Central Arkansas has had a lot of success the past few
years and just came off a significant BIG 10 win last weekend," ASU volleyball
coach Justin Ingram said. "We were pleased with our performance and had several
players with key roles in this victory. Our ability to serve aggressive
and stay there for a while is important and Allison and Amanda were terrific
for us."
Against UCA the Red Wolves relied on solid defense and strong play at the net to come away with a three-set sweep. ASU battled the bears throughout the first set before eventually pulling away. UCA held a 16-15 lead, but ASU scored 10 of the next points 14 points to earn the victory.
In the second set the Red Wolves again made a run late in the set to earn the win. ASU held a 20-19 lead and put the set away by scoring the final five points to pick up the win and take a 2-0 lead in the match. In the third set A-State played strong defense put the match away with kills from Hodges, Amanda Chaparro and Jasmine Terry.
Taylor Szypulski led ASU in the match with 12 kills, while Cayla Fielder and Terry each finished with nine. Kearney led the team with 22 assists, while Megan Baska paced the team defensively with 25 digs.