MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (9/7/24) – A balanced offense and dynamic service game helped Arkansas State volleyball move back into the win column on Saturday, ousting Austin Peay 3-1 (25-16, 25-20, 24-26, 25-13) inside the Alumni Memorial Gym.
Three players recorded double-digit kills for the Red Wolves (4-1), who served a season-best-tying nine aces against the Governors (1-4) – a career-high five by sophomore Mia Maloney.
Kaitlin Whitlock led all players with 15 kills, giving her 32 across two matches at the Blue Raider Bash. Daedrianna Cail hit a blistering .750 with 10 kills (1 error on 12 attacks) and Bailey Hall tallied 10 kills.
As a team, A-State hit .228, with setters Erin Madigan (27 assists) and Valeria Ortiz (18) combining for 45 assists. Madigan added 13 digs for her first double-double of the year.
Defensively, the Red Wolves limited Austin Peay to a .102 clip and tallied nine blocks – a match-best six by Haley Glunz. Sarah Martinez corralled 21 digs for her third consecutive match with 20-plus digs.
Cail was a perfect 5-for-5 in the opening set, while Maloney and Libby Gee-Weiler fired a pair of aces to help A-State take the frame 25-16. After the Red Wolves took a 12-7 lead on a Glunz kill, they widened the gap to as much as eight before APSU battled back to within four. A-State would take the final five points in the set, clinching on back-to-back Gee-Weiler aces.
The lead changed hands multiple times for much of the second set, but Ortiz connected with Hall for the go-ahead kill to make it 16-15. The Governors remained within three points until A-State took four of the final five points to take the set 25-20 and lead 2-0 in the contest.
Austin Peay used a 6-0 run midway through the third set to take a 14-9 lead and then survived a fierce A-State set-tying rally to take the third set in extra points, extending the match.
Grace Wiley sparked a 4-0 run to move the Scarlet and Black ahead 8-5 in the fourth set, later followed by kills from Whitlock and Cail to force a Governors timeout up 13-8. That break in action would prove ineffective, as A-State expanded its lead to 20-9. The Red Wolves' largest lead of the frame came when an attack error made it 24-12 and set up match point. After Austin Peay saved a point, Hall ended the match with a kill.
NEXT UP
The Red Wolves conclude the Blue Raider Bash Sunday, taking on host Middle Tennessee. First serve is set for 2 p.m. and the match will be shown on ESPN Plus.
SOCIAL MEDIA
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