NEWBERRY, S.C. – University of Arkansas – Fort Smith Volleyball picked up two more wins Saturday as it finished the Newberry Invitational 4-0 to start the 2023 season.
The Lions picked up a 25-20, 25-17, 23-25, 25-20 win over host Newberry in their first match of the day then closed with their second sweep of the weekend over Francis Marion, 25-14, 25-14, 25-16.
UAFS will continue tournament play next weekend, September 1-2, with four matches at the Gorilla Classic in Pittsburg, Kansas.
UAFS 3, Newberry 1
Depth was shown as a strength for the Lions attack as six different players recorded seven or more kills for the Lions in the win over the Wolves.
Middle blocker Angelina Hardison posted career-high numbers of 16 kills with a .517 attack percentage and was matched with 16 kills by outside hitter Caelyn Gunn. Outside hitter Nyia Anderson was the third Lion with double-digit kills with 11 while hitting .320.
Setter Chloe Price added seven kills to go with her 49 assists, dishing out seven kills to right-side hitter Reagan Macha and eight to middle blocker Hannah Watkins, who hit .412 in the match. The Lions hit .267 overall compared to .132 for the Wolves.
Libero Paola Fragalle led the defensive effort for the Lions with 24 digs while Gunn and Price notched double-doubles with 13 and 11 digs, respectively. Defensive specialists Taylor Lintz and Lauren Weber also had double figure digs with 11 and 10.
Keeping with the theme of Friday's matches, the Lions used a 7-1 run in set one had runs of 7-2 and 8-0 in set two.
UAFS 3, Francis Marion 0
The Lions hit a weekend best .345 as they swept the Patriots to cap the weekend. They hit .415 in the first set and followed it up by hitting .485 in set two.
Gunn led the offensive attack, racking up 12 kills on a .458 attack percentage. Macha was a force opposite Gunn, tallying 10 kills while hitting .563. Additionally, the Lions got a combined 11 kills and a .455 attack percentage from Watkins and Hardison.
Price dished out 34 assists in the win.
The UAFS defense was just as strong, holding the Patriots to a .081 attack percentage. FMU hit -.051 in set three. Gunn tallied a double-double with 10 digs while Fragalle recorded a team-high 21 digs.
Fragalle also had three of the team's five aces while keeping a clean sheet in that category defensively.
