BOX SCORE 1: Angelo State 3, Missouri Southern 1    
BOX SCORE 2: Arkansas Fort Smith 3, Angelo State 2

SAN ANGELO – The No. 19-ranked Angelo State volleyball team split its season openers with a 3-1 win over Missouri Southern and a 3-2 loss to Arkansas Fort Smith on Friday at the ASU Kathleen Brasfield Invitational in the Junell Center.

ASU (1-1) will now play Arkansas-Monticello at noon and Western New Mexico at 6 p.m. on Saturday to finish off the tournament before starting Lone Star Conference play on Tuesday against Texas Woman's back at the Stephens Arena court. The Belles, who earned their first win 25-17, 20-25, 25-20, 25-21 over Missouri Southern before falling 21-25, 25-12, 25-19, 19-25, 13-15, finished their first two matches with a.208 hitting percentage and an uncharacteristic 51 errors.

"When we were playing clean, we were playing pretty well," ASU head coach Chuck Waddington said. "The problem was that we were giving the other team half of their points. We are playing inconsistently right now as a young team that is going through growing pains."

Mallory Blauser led the Belles throughout the day with 38 kills and added two blocks in her first day in an ASU uniform, while Shelby Wilt had 35 digs and Arielle Bond contributed 23 kills in the two matches. Blauser, a sophomore transfer from the University of Cincinnati, had 17 kills in the first match against MSSU and added 21 in the five-set loss to UAFS. Wilt led the Belles with 18 digs against Missouri Southern and had 28 against UAFS, while Katie MacLeay provided 21 digs in the nightcap. Alexa Johnson, also a sophomore transfer from Lamar University, had 57 assists against UAFS and 45 in the season opener against MSSU to finish the day with 102 assists.

The dropped the first set against Arkansas Fort Smith 21-25 before rolling to a 25-12 win in the second set and a 25-19 third-set victory. The Lions would rally though with a 25-19 fourth-set win to force a decisive fifth set that proved to be a back-and-forth affair. UAFS started quickly and took a 7-2 advantage before the Belles rallied to tie the set at 8-8 on an ace from Daeleigh Castile. ASU went up 10-9 on a mammoth kill from Bond and then took a two-point lead on a UAFS attacking error. That momentum was halted though with the combination of two Belle attacking errors and a kill from Katarina Krstonosic to give the Lions a 13-11 lead. Two points were exchanged when Blauser recorded a kill but followed with an error and the match was ended by the 27th attacking error of the night by the Belles.  

"We have to learn how to win those close sets," Waddington said. "In the past, we've had older players who understood what it takes to win in those situations and we'll need to help develop those traits. There were some good things, but we'll have to learn how to take advantage of opportunities when we get them."

Abbie Lynn finished the day with 21 kills and four blocks for the Belles, while Zoey Hanrahan added 12 kills and Castile had 10 kills and four blocks. Johnson also added 17 digs to her assist production at the setter position and MacLeay was second on the team with 35 digs.