CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. (8/28/15) – The Arkansas State volleyball team opened the 2015 season with two 3-0 victories over Southeast Missouri (25-20, 25-10, 25-16) and UMKC (25-20, 26-24, 25-22) in the team's first two matches of the Drury Hotels Redhawks Invitational and starts a season 2-0 for the first time since the 2008 campaign.

A-State (2-0) began the day with a match against the host school, Southeast Missouri (0-1), and the Red Wolves jumped out to a 10-6 advantage on a block by Anna Murphy and Kelsey Reis.  SEMO kept hanging around throughout the set but was never able to overtake the Red Wolves the rest of the set.  Arkansas State was able to clinch the first set 25-20 on a Darby Graff kill and earn a 1-0 edge in the match.

The Red Wolves raced out to a 10-4 advantage in the second set after a Carlisa May kill and forced the Redhawks to use a timeout.  However, the timeout couldn't slow A-State down with A-State taking a 17-7 edge on a kill by Kariana Castanon-Hill.  SEMO used another timeout after a Reis block put A-State up 19-8, but the Red Wolves went on to close out the game by a score of 25-10 on a Drew Jones kill.

Southeast Missouri took the first point of the third set, but A-State was still the first to 10 when another kill by Jones gave A-State a 10-7 edge.  SEMO was able to cut into the deficit at 12-10, but never got any closer the rest of the way.  Arkansas State finished the set on a 13-6 run as Jones registered the final kill in the 25-16 set victory that gave A-State a season-opening sweep of the Redhawks.

“I was a little nervous how we'd play since it was the first match of the season, but those fears were quickly alleviated with how we played early,” A-State head volleyball coach David Rehr said.  “We came out pretty strong and I felt like we had a pretty complete match.  Obviously there is some room for improvement, but I'm happy with the result against SEMO.”

The win over SEMO is A-State's first season-opening win under Coach Rehr and the first since the 2011 season.  Graff led A-State with 13 kills on a .571 hitting percentage, while Jones (12 kills) and May (eight kills) were also instrumental in the offensive effort as the team finished with a .366 attacking percentage.  Mallory Warrington picked up last year where she left off as she registered a double-double with 33 assists and 14 digs, which was tied for the team lead.

Markie Schaedig tied for the team lead with Warrington in digs with 14, while Reis had two blocks.  Jones led the team with two service aces, while Warrington, Schaedig, and Brentlee Weaver each added one of their own.

The Red Wolves and UMKC (1-1) traded points in the first set of A-State's second match of the day, but A-State was the first to 10 and led 10-9 after a service error by the Kangaroos.  The two teams traded blows throughout the set and saw both teams tied 19-19 before the Red Wolves closed the set on a 6-1 run that ended with a Graff kill to give A-State a 25-20 win.

The Kangaroos opened the second set of the match strong by racing out to a 9-3 advantage, but A-State quickly responded with 6-0 run, capped by a Reis block, to tie the set at 9-9.  The two teams traded points until UMKC went ahead 22-19 to appear in control of the set.  However, the Red Wolves clawed their way back to take the lead 23-22 with a 4-0 run.  The Kangaroos responded with two points to earn set point at 24-23, but a kill by May and two straight kills by Jones gave A-State a 26-24 second set victory.

The Red Wolves opened the third set with a 13-4 run, but a 7-1 UMKC run quickly halted any thoughts of an easy final set for Arkansas State.  A-State maintained its advantage throughout the set, but the Kangaroos managed to get within one point at 23-22 on a kill by Skylar Muff.  However, UMKC suffered a bad set and an attack error to give the Red Wolves a 25-22 set win and 3-0 match victory.

“It's great to start the season 2-0,” Rehr added.  “We're a great mixture of young and experience.  We had some troubles during the UMKC match, but we showed great perseverance and were able to get the win.  We're looking for a good match against Saint Louis University to close out this tournament.”

Jones led the team with 12 kills, while May added 11 of her own on a team-high .429 attacking percentage.  Warrington added another double-double with 37 assists and 14 digs, while Schaedig was her usual self on defense, leading the team with 21 digs.  Reis was a force in the blocking game with six blocks and Hannah Robey led the team with two service aces against the Kangaroos.