MONTGOMERY, Ala. – University of Arkansas – Fort Smith Volleyball opened the Warhawk Invitational with a pair of wins Friday by coming back to win in five sets over Albany State and sweeping Middle Georgia State.
The Lions will go for two more wins Saturday as they once again face off against Albany State at 8:30 a.m. followed by playing host Auburn-Montgomery at 1:30 p.m. to conclude the weekend.
UAFS 3, Albany State 2
The Lions trailed 2-0 to the Rams before dominating the third and fourth sets to even the match and then completed the comeback in set five.
UAFS led 3-1 early in the fifth set but the Rams would take a 12-10 lead. The Lions then scored the final five points of the match to seal the win. UAFS hit .318 in the set.
After allowing the Rams to hit .344 in the opening set, the Lions buckled down defensively in set three, holding them to .071 while hitting .429. UAFS scored the first 11 points of the set before leading 17-2 after a 6-0 run.
Set four saw the Lions hit .393 while holding Albany State to -.094 as the Lions raced out to an 8-1 lead. A pair of 4-0 runs grew the lead to 17-4 before closing the set on a 7-2 run.
Codi Jackson hit .357 with 13 kills for the Lions while Lydia Pitts had 18 kills and 14 digs. Aspen Olson added nine kills on a .400 attack percentage with Grace Marshall hitting .333 and contributing eight.
Setter Mayli Whetter dished out 47 assists and added six kills and six digs. Abbey Jackson had a team-high 20 digs. Ella Shelby served up four aces in the win.
UAFS 3, Middle Georgia 0
The Lions hit .340 in the sweep of the Knights led by Pitts with 11 kills on a .375 attack percentage. Five players totaled six or more kills and four hit over .300.
Marshall added nine kills on a .368 percentage while Codi Jackson added eight kills. Olson and Emily Parker each tallied six kills with Olson hitting .385 and Parker .455. Whetter had 37 assists in the win.
Abbey Jackson had a team-high 12 digs with Pitts collecting 11.
The Lions hit a blistering .485 in set two and used a 10-0 run in set two to put the match away. Pitts had five of her six aces during the run.
