Hattiesburg, MS – Contributed – Arkansas State volleyball (12-8, 8-1 SBC) posted a season-high 14 total blocks and limited Southern Miss (14-6, 5-4 SBC) to a .118 attack percentage in a hard-fought 3-2 (25-20, 25-16, 23-25, 21-25, 15-12) victory on Thursday night inside the Southern Miss Wellness Center.
Addison Collum led the Red Wolves with 14 kills, nine digs and matched a career high with seven blocks. Erin Madigan totaled a team-high 35 assists while Mia Maloney led the team with four service aces and 27 digs. Maloney matched the single-match high for service aces by a Red Wolf this season and fell one dig shy of matching a career high set earlier in the year against Wichita State.
As a team, A-State totaled 46 kills on a .141 clip and set a season best with 92 digs. Libby Gee-Weiler set a new career high with 14 digs and Calea Bush matched a career high in blocks for the third time this season after finishing with six.
Set 1
A five-point lead quickly vanished after the technical timeout, as the opposition opened a 7-0 run to put the Red Wolves behind. Both sides alternated the next seven points before Haley Glunz and Devyn Lewis teamed up for a block to snap the trend. Collum broke the 20-20 tie with a kill and Glunz added another as the Red Wolves capped a 7-0 stretch of their own to take the first set.
Set 2
The Red Wolves opened another five-point lead after 15 rallies of action and Maloney put the set in firm control with three consecutive service aces that made the score 18-9. Glunz and Collum teamed up for a block and pushed the lead into double digits, but Southern Miss countered with three points in the next four rallies. A-State would not be fazed by the brief run and took the set by a score of 25-16 following a kill from Whitlock.
Set 3
The Golden Eagles used a 6-0 run to build a five-point lead entering the technical timeout, but the Scarlet & Black took six of the next seven points out of the break. Collum accounted for four of the kills and tied the set at 16-16, and the margin would remain within three points the rest of the way. Two errors and a kill from Collum erased a 22-19 deficit, and the reigning Sun Belt Conference Offensive Player of the Week answered a Southern Miss kill with another.
The comeback effort would not be enough, as an attack error followed by a kill for the Golden Eagles forced the match into a fourth set.
Set 4
The Red Wolves trailed 15-12 when momentum shifted into the opposition’s favor. Six of the next seven points would be surrendered, and the deficit would max out at nine. Kills from Bush and Lewis sparked a 6-0 run that narrowed the gap to 23-20, but a service error stalled momentum, and Southern Miss tied the match at two sets apiece via a 25-23 decision.
Set 5
The Red Wolves moved ahead 7-4 following Whitlock’s kill plus three attack errors, and the advantage grew to four over the next three rallies. The Golden Eagles responded with three of the next four points, but back-to-back blocks highlighted a 4-0 run that put the Scarlet & Black ahead 14-8. The next four points fell into the opposition’s favor, but Lewis stonewalled the rally bid with a kill to secure the five-set victory.
A-State concludes action against Southern Miss on Oct. 23 inside the Southern Miss Wellness Center. The match is scheduled for 6 p.m. and will stream on ESPN+, while live stats will be available at AStateRedWolves.com/stats.
A-State returns to Jonesboro for a series against Troy on Oct. 30 and 31 inside First National Bank Arena. Tickets can be purchased by clicking here.
