SPRINGFIELD, MASS. – The Angelo State volleyball team charged into the American International College Invitational with a pair of wins over Dowling College and Ohio Valley University.

The first match of the day for the Belles (10-3, 1-0 LSC) was against hard-hitting Golden Lions (6-3, 0-0 ECC). Dowling came out and taking the first set 25-17 with a team hitting percentage of .324. ASU was held to .067 and committed nine erros in the set. 

"We started really slow against Dowling," ASU head volleyball coach Chuck Waddington said. "They were big and athletic. They kind of imposed their will on us in set one. Between sets we talked about resiliency and the ability to bounce back from a set like that. We did just that hitting .500 and making big plays at key moments in set two," Waddington said. "Sets three and four were not as close simply because we started to clean up our side of the court and pressure them with our serving and attacking."

The second set saw the Belles answer with a hard fought 25-23 win to head into intermission tied at one set a piece. Down 23-21, the Belles called a timeout. After the timeout, Zoey Hanrahan hit two of her 10 kills in back-to-back plays to tie match at 23. Mallory Blauser pushed the Belles to set point with a kill and a Dowling attack error tied the match at one. ASU bounced back with a .500 hitting percentage in the second set win. 

ASU would then then take the following two sets to chalk up the match win with a score of 25-23 in the third set and 25-17 in the fourth. Blauser tied her season high in kills with 23. It was her third match with a least 20 kills this season and she now has a season total of 184 total kills. The Belles also got solid production out of Brianna Sotello with 13 kills which is her 10th match of the season posting double-digit kills. Abbie Lynn also added 12 kills. The sophomore also hit a new season high with four blocks.Maggi Jo Keffury was credited with 53 assists and now has at least 50 assists in four matches this season. Katie MacLeay excelled on defense with 32 digs. 

ASU would then go on to secure a second consecutive win for the day with a sweep over the Fighting Scots of Ohio Valley University (4-7, 0-0 GMAC). The Belles took the opening two sets 25-13 and 25-14 with a balances attack ASU hit above.400 as a team against the Fighting Scots in the first two sets.

In set one, the Belles jumped out to a 13-7 lead but Ohio Valley cut the lead to 14-10 in the middle of the set. A kill Khloe Harrion sparked a 10-3 run to end the set at 25-13. ASU once again got out to an early lead with a 20-10 lead before wining 25-14. 

The third set proved to be a little more of a challenge, however the Belles would pull out a 26-24 win to secure the match victory.
  
"Match two, we were a much better team," Waddington said. "We came out strong and did not look back. Everyone played meaningful minutes and helped us earn the win."

Newcomer Alyssa Orr led the way for the Belles during this second match achieving a career high at Angelo State with seven kills, two blocks, and eight digs. Also marking a new high in career numbers was sophomore Kelly Hasbrouck with 15 total assists. Rounding off the group of match leaders that hit career numbers was transfer Taylor Lee Seaton, who recorded 11 assists. Brooke Robertson added five kills for ASU. A total of 12 Belles earned at least one kill and 14 picked at least one dig. 

The Belles return the court to finish out the American International College Invitational with another two match day on Saturday, September 19^th versus the University of New Haven at 11:00 a.m. and tournament host American International College at 3:00 p.m.