Jonesboro, AR – Contributed – Arkansas State volleyball (4-7, 0-0 SBC) dropped a 3-0 (15-25, 22-25, 23-25) decision against Illinois (8-3, 0-0 Big Ten) to conclude the A-State Invitational on Sunday afternoon inside First National Bank Arena.

Kaitlin Whitlock and Devyn Lewis tied with a team-high 10 kills while Maya Joska led the team with 16 assists. Defensively, Mia Maloney recorded a team-best 13 digs and Calea Bush posted a team high of five blocks. As a team A-State tallied 37 kills on a .137 hitting percentage alongside 51 digs and eight total blocks.

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Set 1

A kill by Whitlock cut the Fighting Illini’s lead to 8-6 before a 10-2 run widened the gap to 10 points. The Red Wolves attempted to rally, as Addison Collum’s kill and block alongside Haley Glunz helped A-State secure seven of the next 10 points. The effort would not be enough as two kills and an attack error resulted in a 25-15 score in favor of Illinois.

Set 2

The Red Wolves surged early in the second set by mounting an 8-1 run, highlighted by three kills and two blocks by Calea Bush, that created a 12-8 advantage. The lead would be maintained throughout most of the set as a kill from Whitlock made the score 20-18. The opposition countered with five consecutive points before Bush’s kill stalled the run, but Illinois added two points in the final three rallies to move ahead 2-0 in the match.

Set 3

Neither side held a lead larger than two points until a kill from Glunz, a service ace by Libby Gee-Weiler and an attack error moved the Scarlet & Black ahead 19-16. The Fighting Illini took five of the next six points, utilizing back-to-back kills to tie the set at 21-21. Both sides traded points before two more kills put A-State behind 24-22.

Bush and Collum picked up block assists, but Illinois countered with a kill to end the match.

A-State begins Sun Belt Conference action versus ULM on Sept. 24-25 inside First National Bank Arena. Both matches are scheduled for 6 p.m. and tickets can be purchased by clicking here.

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