Lafayette, LA – Contributed – Despite facing late deficits in the third and fourth sets, Arkansas State volleyball (7-7, 3-0 SBC) mounted successful comebacks to defeat Louisiana (6-10, 1-2 SBC) by a score of 3-1 (25-16, 19-25, 27-25, 25-21) on Thursday night inside Earl K. Long Gym.
Kaitlin Whitlock led the team with 17 kills on a .279 attack percentage and posted 10 digs to secure her third consecutive double-double. Erin Madigan tallied a team-high 29 assists and Mia Maloney posted a team-best 16 digs while Haley Glunz led the team with three total blocks.
| ADD US ON GOOGLE NEWS: Click here to see more local news from Jonesboro Right Now
As a team A-State landed 58 kills on a .277 clip alongside four service aces and secured 59 digs plus 6.0 total blocks. Addison Collum added eight kills in the match and became the fourth active Red Wolf to surpass 500 career kills.
Set 1
Whitlock landed a kill to break a 9-9 tie and started a 6-1 run that secured a five-point advantage at the technical timeout. Collum stonewalled the opposition’s effort to narrow the gap with back-to-back kills and Glunz landed another to create a 19-13 lead. The Ragin’ Cajuns took three of the next five rallies before a 4-0 run by the Red Wolves secured the opening set.
Set 2
Whitlock and Ozuna teamed up for back-to-back kills and cut the deficit to three rallies after trailing 12-5 early in the set. The reigning Sun Belt Conference Offensive Player of the Week added two more and closed Louisiana’s lead to 18-16, but the opposition regained control by taking four of the next six points. A-State dropped four of the five that followed, allowing Louisiana to even the match at 1-1.
Set 3
Eight of the first 10 rallies fell in the opposition’s favor, but kills by Collum and Eden Roethel sparked a 5-1 run that put the Scarlet & Black back in the fight. A-State trailed 20-16 when service and attack errors opened the door for a comeback. Maya Joska landed her first service ace of the season to put the Red Wolves within one point of a tie, and another attack error tied the match at 20 points apiece.
Both sides battled into extra points, and after a kill by Parker Stearns gave the Red Wolves a 26-25 lead, the Ragin’ Cajuns committed another attack error that resulted in a set win.
Set 4
Louisiana broke a 10-10 tie with four consecutive points and led 15-11 at the technical timeout. With another late deficit threatening a fifth set, A-State surged to a 20-20 tie behind two kills from Stearns plus three errors by the opposition. The Ragin’ Cajuns committed four more attack errors while Stearns added another kill to secure the match in four sets.
A-State concludes the series at Louisiana on Oct. 2 inside Earl K. Long Gym. The match is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. and live stats will be available at AStateRedWolves.com/stats.
| DAILY BRIEF: Sign up for the Jonesboro Right Now Daily Brief Newsletter
