FOLEY, Ala. (11/18/21) – The Arkansas State volleyball team dropped a 3-1 decision Thursday against Georgia State at the Foley Sports Complex in its first-round match of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament.

Georgia State (8-19) jumped out to a 2-0 lead after picking up 25-15 and 27-25 victories in the first and second set, respectively, but A-State (15-14) bounced back with a 25-21 win in the third.  Although the Red Wolves posted their best attack percentage of the outing in the fourth set at .250, the Panthers countered with a .273 mark to clinch the match with a 25-22 victory.

First Team All-Sun Belt Conference selection Macey Putt posted a team-high 14 kills for the Red Wolves, while sophomore Brianna Hollingshed added nine and finished with a .750 hitting percentage.  Defensively, SBC Libero of the Year Tatum Ticknor recorded a team-best 18 digs.

A-State finished the match with an overall .138 attack percentage in comparison to a .235 percentage for Georgia State, which also finished with seven more blocks (12-5).

The Red Wolves led the third set from start to finish and jumped out to a 10-4 advantage in the fourth, but the Panthers responded with a 5-0 run to close the margin to only one point.  Still leading 15-12, A-State saw Georgia State score the next seven points to take a 19-15 lead before going on to pick up the three-point win.

Georgia State was led by three players registering double-figure kills, including Meisheia Griffin with a team-high 14.