by Brad Brewer

It seems like a conference weekend at home was exactly what the doctor ordered for Arkansas State volleyball with two big victories over Texas State and UT-Arlington. The two wins improve the Red Wolves’ Sun Belt Conference record to 2-2 and puts them back in the fight for the division.

The Red Wolves kicked off the weekend by stunning the defending Sun Belt champions in Texas State. A-State utilized their habit of having fast starts by taking the first and second sets 25-23 and 25-22 respectively. For a while it seemed like the curse of fading away late was returning, as Texas State was able to figure out A-State’s offense and rout the third set 25-16 while staving off a fourth set comeback, forcing a fifth set after winning 25-21.

Something awoke in the Red Wolves in the fifth set as they slammed the door on the Bobcats trying for a reverse sweep. A-State took the set with a convincing 15-6 score and the series 3-2, proving doubts about the squad’s mental strength wrong.

Sophomore Macey Putt was the key player offensively, scoring 19 kills with a hitting percentage of .208. Fellow sophomore setter Julianna Cramer continued her excellence this season with 19 assists and served 14 times with no errors. 

Moving on to tonight’s contest against UT-Arlington, the match against the Mavericks was a much more comfortable affair, as a blazing start led the Red Wolves to a 25-17 win in set one. A-State was able to pull away after a tightly knitted affair in the second, winning 25-23 to go up 2-0 for the second time of the weekend. The third set was more like the first, with the Red Wolves breaking out to a 16-8 lead before holding off a Maverick comeback to win 25-23 and sweep the series.

Overall the bout against UT-Arlington was much cleaner than last night, with junior outside hitter Peyton Uhlenhake more than doubling her hitting percentage to .292 and Putt continuing to lead the team with a .333 percentage. Cramer had another blinder as well, notching 23 assists and scoring three services in a row. Blocking continues to not be a huge part of A-State’s game, with only four blocks going for points tonight. But the players at the net, namely Josie Stanford, Kendahl Davenport and Madison Brown are dangerous as they used their speed and hitting power to force 11 total kills from balls hanging over the net.

Question marks still linger over the libero position but as long as sophomore Hannah Cox stays healthy, the team should be fine with her being the only active defensive specialist.

Make sure to check out The Herald for a preview of next weekend’s home contests against Coastal Carolina and Appalachian State, two teams that are historically dangerous in the conference.

Editor’s Note: Although this article also has Krishnan Collins’ name attached, the actual article was written by Brad Brewer, a sports writer at The Herald. Collins published the article on his Wordpress account due to technical difficulties with the The Herald’s main account but the article itself should only be attributed to Brewer.

Categories: Sports