JONESBORO, Ark. (11/21/25) – Arkansas State volleyball (20-8, 12-4 SBC) rallied from a nine-point deficit in the third set to secure a third consecutive sweep, defeating Southern Miss (17-12, 8-8 SBC) in a 3-0 (25-13, 25-20, 29-27) decision on Friday afternoon at the Foley Sports Tourism Complex.
 
Kaitlin Whitlock recorded a team-leading 12 kills on a .241 hitting percentage while Addison Collum also reached double digits with 10 on a .375 clip. Daedrianna Cail posted three solo blocks alongside five block assists for a team-high of eight total, and Mia Maloney led the Red Wolves with 17 digs.
 
As a team, A-State posted 49 kills on a .294 percentage and tallied 54 digs alongside 13 blocks. The Golden Eagles were limited to 35 kills and .102 clip in the match.
 
The Scarlet and Black established momentum early as two kills from Whitlock sparked a 10-3 run. The lead expanded to eight before a 3-0 run for Southern Miss closed the gap to 14-9, but a service error allowed A-State to reestablish control.
 
Six of the next 10 rallies fell in the Red Wolves' favor before a kill from Payton Van Veen sparked a 5-0 run that closed the opening set.
 
Both sides evenly split the first 22 rallies of the second set before three consecutive kills, including two from Cail, created a 14-11 lead. The opposition mounted a 3-1 run that lowered the advantage to two points, but Whitlock stonewalled the effort with a kill while Van Veen registered back-to-back solo blocks to make the score 22-17.
 
A-State alternated the next five rallies with the Golden Eagles before Cail and Collum recorded the set-ending block assists.
 
With their season on the line, Southern Miss mounted a final stand and claimed a 12-3 lead to open the third set. A service error followed by a kill from Haley Glunz closed the gap to seven, and after surrendering a kill in the next rally, the Red Wolves opened a 7-0 run.
 
Glunz and Devyn Lewis sparked it with back-to-back kills, while an attack error followed by two kills and a block made the score 13-12. The Golden Eagles claimed 11 of the next 18 rallies beyond that point and forced set point via a 24-19 score.
 
Whitlock and Van Veen landed kills while an attack error plus block assists for the latter and Cail closed the gap to one point once again. This time A-State would tie the game as Van Veen secured another kill to force extra points.
 
A service ace from Maloney pushed the Red Wolves in front for the first time in the third set, but Southern Miss refused to go away. With the score tied at 27-27, Collum registered a kill to break the tie before Lewis ended the match with another.
 
NEXT UP
A-State advances to the Sun Belt Volleyball Tournament Semifinals and will face the winner of Match 3 at 2:00 p.m. inside the Foley Sports Tourism Complex in Foley, Alabama. All matches can be viewed on ESPN+ and live stats will be available on AStateRedWolves.com/stats.
 
The 2025 Sun Belt Volleyball Tournament bracket can be found by clicking here.

SOCIAL MEDIA
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