JONESBORO – The Arkansas State volleyball team is set to embark on a 10-day foreign tour of Italy from June 14-23 for a journey that will feature training sessions, competition against foreign opponents, and the chance to experience some of the country’s most important historical sites, cultural landmarks, and other educational opportunities.

A-State will depart Memphis on June 14 and arrive in Rome, Italy, to begin the tour of the country. The team will spend time in the cities of Rome, Florence, and Milan along with a number of other towns throughout the length of the trip. The squad will have a chance to tour museums and cultural landmarks such as the Vatican, Sistine Chapel, St. Peter’s Basilica, Leaning Tower of Pisa, Michelangelo’s David, the National Stock Exchange in Milan, the Cinque Terre, and much more.

As for the volleyball portion of the trip, the Red Wolves will undergo three training sessions and play three matches against quality foreign competition. The trip will allow for a multitude of team-bonding experiences on and off the court.

“This is a fantastic opportunity for our team,” A-State head volleyball coach David Rehr said. “When you look at from a volleyball perspective it is so valuable because its extra practices and competition for a younger team that we need to gel as quickly as possible. Then you look at the chance for the team to bond off the court as well and spend some time together exploring and learning about an area with so much historical significance. It’s just a special chance to travel to a place that many of us might not have ever had the chance to go to otherwise.”

The NCAA allows teams to take a foreign tour once every four years and matches must be against teams from outside the United States. This is the first foreign tour for an Arkansas State program since the men’s basketball team went to Calgary, Alberta, Canada in the summer of 2013.

A-State posted a 21-12 record a season ago and was a participant in the 2017 National Invitational Volleyball Championship. The Red Wolves defeated SIUE in the first round for its first postseason win since the 1993 NIVC.

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JONESBORO – The Arkansas State volleyball team will play Georgia State in the first round of the 2016 Sun Belt Conference Volleyball Tournament Friday at 5 p.m. as the league released the complete bracket Sunday afternoon at the conclusion of the regular season.

The top-seeded Red Wolves will face the eighth-seeded Panthers at College Park Center in Arlington, Texas on Friday, Nov. 18. The semifinals are scheduled for Saturday Nov. 19, with the finals set for Sunday, Nov. 20. Every match of the tournament can be watched on ESPN3.

A-State claimed the No. 1 seed in the tournament with a 15-1 mark and West Division championship. The 15-1 mark tied the East Division champion Coastal Carolina for best in the league, but A-State defeated the Chanticleers on Sept. 25 to break the tie and earn the top seed.

If Arkansas State were to win its first-round match against Georgia State, the team would face the winner of the match between No. 4 UT Arlington and No. 5 Little Rock in the semifinals at 6:30 p.m. on Nov. 19. The Mavericks are Trojans are set to square off at 7:30 on Friday, Nov. 18.

On the other side of the bracket, No. 3 Texas State and No. 6 South Alabama will begin the tournament on Friday at noon before No. 2 Coastal Carolina will play No. 7 Georgia Southern at 2:30 p.m. The winners of both of those matches will meet in the semifinals on Nov. 19 at 4:00 p.m. Sunday’s championship match is scheduled for 1 p.m.

The Red Wolves, last season’s SBC champs and tournament champs, enter the tournament on an 11-match winning streak. Head coach David Rehr has a career record of 6-3 in the conference tournament. A-State has won at least one game in the SBC Tournament during all four of his seasons after an 11-year streak (2001-2011) of not winning a single game in the event.

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JONESBORO – The Arkansas State volleyball team topped Little Rock 3-0 (25-11, 25-19, 25-20) Monday night at the Convocation Center for its sixth straight sweep, which is the most since a seven-match streak of sweeps in 1996.

The six consecutive sweeps of conference opponents also ties for the longest streak since 1994 as the Red Wolves (18-7, 10-1 SBC) registered their second highest hitting percentage of the year at .398. Carlisa May led the team with 15 kills on a .333 hitting percentage, while Kenzie Fields added 11 on a career-high .375 attacking mark. Jessica Uke tallied 10 kills on a .692 hitting percentage, which is the highest by an A-State player this season.

Mallory Warrington handed out 42 assists and fell just one dig shy of a double-double with nine that tied for the match high with teammates Markie Schaedig and Fields. Kelsey Reis added seven kills on a .600 attacking percentage and led the team with two aces. Reis, Uke, and Warrington each had a block apiece.

“I loved the team effort and thought we came out ready to go because you don’t have to talk much to get ready for Little Rock,” A-State head volleyball coach David Rehr said. “There’s no love lost between us, but we also respect each other. We got a sweep and that’s what you want, but it got a little uglier at the end than we wanted it to.”

The Red Wolves jumped ahead of Little Rock (9-15, 5-6 SBC) 10-5 in set one and led 16-11 after a kill by the Trojans. However, A-State dominated the rest of the set with a 9-0 run, capped by a kill from Uke, to claim a 25-11 victory.

A-State raced out to a 9-3 advantage in set two after a kill by Warrington to force a Little Rock timeout. The timeout did little to slow down the home team as the lead was stretched to 20-10 before a 7-4 run by the Trojans put the tally at 24-17. The visitors won two straight points after a timeout to get within 24-19, but a kill by May gave A-State a 25-19 set win.

The third set began with the Trojans claiming an early 6-3 edge, but a 4-0 run by A-State, capped by a Uke kill, put the home team on top 7-6 and forced a Little Rock timeout. The set remained competitive until Shelby Holmes gave A-State a 20-16 lead on a kill. Little Rock got within three points once at 21-18, but never got any closer as Arkansas State was able to earn a 25-20 win for the sweep.

Arkansas State hits the road to play Georgia Southern in its next contest on Friday, Oct. 28. First serve from Hanner Fieldhouse in Statesboro is set for 5:30 p.m. (CT) and the match is scheduled to be broadcast on ESPN3.

Fans can follow the team on Twitter (@stAteVolleyball) and Instagram (astatevolleyball) along with liking the Arkansas State University Volleyball page on Facebook for the latest news and updates regarding the team.

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JONESBORO – The Arkansas State volleyball team swept Central Arkansas 3-0 (25-19, 25-23, 25-17) in its home opener Thursday night to open the 2016 A-State Invitational at the Convocation Center in Jonesboro, Ark.

Kenzie Fields led the Red Wolves (5-3) with 13 kills and had 10 digs to register her second double-double of the season. Anna Murphy tallied 12 kills on a .364 attacking percentage, while Brentlee Weaver had nine on a .318 hitting percentage. Mallory Warrington handed out 39 assists, while Lindsay Cline (12) and Markie Schaedig (11) each had double-digit digs. Nicole Knight, Cline, and Fields had two service aces apiece.

“We’re not in a great place yet as a team,” A-State head volleyball coach David Rehr said. “We’re still working through some lineups and other changes, but today was one great step in the right direction. There’s nothing like playing at home in the Convocation Center. The crowd was with us, the band was amazing, so playing these next three at home is crucial for us.”

A-State raced out to a 10-6 lead on Central Arkansas (3-5) after a Weaver kill in set one and led 16-12 after a Carlisa May kill to force a UCA timeout. The Sugar Bears also called another timeout down 24-19 and the Red Wolves won the next point on a Murphy kill for a 25-19 set win.

UCA began the second set strongly with a 9-4 run, capped by a block, to force an A-State timeout. However, the Red Wolves battled to within 16-15 on a Fields’ kill to force a Sugar Bears’ timeout. Central Arkansas led 22-20 after a kill, but the Red Wolves ended the set on a 5-1 run to win the set 25-23 for a 2-0 edge.

The third set began evenly with the score tied 9-9, but a 5-0 Arkansas State run put the score at 14-9. The Sugar Bears never really threatened the rest of the set as the Red Wolves closed out a 25-17 set win and 3-0 match victory with a kill from Shelby Holmes.

“It’s good being back home,” Fields said. “I thought I played smart and didn’t overthink. I just enjoyed it, the atmosphere, and my teammates.”

Arkansas State returns to action Friday night in its second game of the A-State Invitational with a matchup against UT Martin. First serve from the Convocation Center is set for 6 p.m. for that matchup. UT Martin plays Tulsa at 10:30 a.m. to open Friday’s action, while Central Arkansas and Tulsa play at 3:30 p.m. prior to A-State’s home matchup.

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A-State Sweeps NC State

FORT WORTH, Texas – The Arkansas State volleyball team continued its season-opening tournament at the TCU Invitational with a 3-0 (25-21, 25-22, 25-19) sweep of North Carolina State at the University Recreation Center in Fort Worth, Texas.

The Red Wolves (2-0) outhit NC State (1-2) .248 to .118 and had 11 blocks against five for the Wolfpack to help secure the win for A-State. The victory for Arkansas State was the program’s first over a school from the Atlantic Coast Conference since the 1995 season when the team defeated North Carolina 3-1.

“I loved the effort we got from the team and this was a solid outing by us against a team from a very good conference,” A-State head coach David Rehr said. “We started a little slow in set one because we got stuck in a rotation they were able to exploit a couple of times, but once we got a point to get out of that things started rolling. We will look to make some adjustments before playing TCU later.”

North Carolina State raced out to a 6-1 lead in set one, but A-State responded with an 8-3 run, finished with a block by Mallory Warrington and Anna Murphy, to tie the set at 9-9. The Wolfpack retook the advantage at 17-11 with an 8-2 run of their own, but A-State closed the set on a 14-4 run to win game one 25-21.

Both teams began set two evenly with the score tied at 8-8 before a 6-0 run by Arkansas State, capped by two Murphy kills, put the tally at 14-8. NC State battled back to within two points a few times, the last at 24-22 on an A-State attack error, but a kill by Carlisa May clinched a 25-22 set win and 2-0 edge in the match for the Red Wolves.

A-State jumped out to a 10-7 advantage in set three after a Warrington kill, but NC State came back to tie things up 17-17 on a kill by Perry Ramsey. However, the Red Wolves used a 7-1 run, capped by a Drew Jones kill, to set up match point. The Wolfpack earned one point to make the score 24-19, but a kill by Murphy gave Arkansas State a 25-19 set win and 3-0 match victory.

Jones (13) and May (11) led the team in kills for the match on hitting percentages of .227 and .214, respectively. Warrington dished out 37 assists to pace the Red Wolves and also tallied six digs and three blocks. Markie Schaedig registered 19 digs for the second straight match, while Jessica Heuertz was second on the team with 13 of her own. Kelsey Reis recorded seven blocks, while Murphy added two blocks defensively to go along with seven kills on a .429 attacking percentage.

A-State comes back, but drops tough match to TCU

FORT WORTH, Texas – The Arkansas State volleyball team rallied from a 2-0 deficit, but dropped a 3-2 (14-25, 24-26, 25-22, 25-19, 14-16) match to Texas Christian University Saturday night at the University Recreation Center in Fort Worth, Texas in the Red Wolves’ final match of the TCU Invitational.

A-State (2-1) fell behind by two sets early, but was the first to 10 in set three and held a 15-11 lead after a TCU (2-0) attack error at the media timeout. The Horned Frogs went on a 7-3 run to tie the score at 18-18, but A-State responded to take a 21-19 edge after a block by Kenzie Fields. TCU got within 23-22, but a kill by Drew Jones and block by Carlisa May and Kelsey Reis clinched a 25-22 set win and got the Red Wolves on the board 2-1.

The Red Wolves raced out to a 14-9 advantage in game four after a May kill, but the home team got within two points at 18-16 on a block. A-State extended its lead to 21-16 after a 3-0 run, but TCU fought back to get within 21-18. However, A-State scored four of the final five points and claimed a 25-19 set victory on a kill from May to force the decisive fifth set.

Arkansas State raced out to an 8-4 edge in the fifth game on two consecutive kills by Jones, but TCU went on a 5-1 run to even the score at 9-9. A-State went ahead on the next point, but wouldn’t be able to regain the lead again later in the match. The Horned Frogs earned match point at 14-13, but a kill by Anna Murphy knotted things up at 14-14 with a kill. However, Texas Christian scored back-to-back points on kills by Anna Walsh and Sarita Mikals to win the set 16-14 and match 3-2.

“It’s so tough to lose in five sets, but 2-1 at this tournament is not a bad showing by any stretch,” A-State head volleyball coach David Rehr said. “I felt like we had two great opportunities to win sets two and five and we just didn’t get the job done. Credit to them though, they are a good team with great players, but we are too. We went into the weekend with Brentlee Weaver as our starter on the right side and she wasn’t able to play in any of the matches so that hurt us some.”

Jones led the team with 20 kills, tying a career high set Oct. 24, 2014 against Appalachian State, while May put down 18 kills of her own. Jones also registered her first double-double of the season with 10 digs, while Mallory Warrington tallied her second double-double in three games with 53 assists and 15 digs. Reis recorded 11 kills and had two blocks, while Markie Schaedig (22), Jessica Heuertz (14), and Lindsay Cline (11) all had double-digit digs.

TCU, who is also receiving votes in the AVCA Top 25 Poll like A-State, was led by Mikals’ 16 kills, while Ashley Smith led the home team with 19 digs. Mikals also registered eight blocks as the Horned Frogs had 14 blocks to A-State’s four during the match. TCU outhit the Red Wolves .230 to .192.

The first set was all TCU as they jumped out to a 10-5 lead. A-State got within four at 12-8, but not any closer as the home team won set one 25-14. TCU led set two 15-12 at the media timeout, but A-State tied it at 17-17 and eventually took the edge at 24-23 on a May kill. However, the Horned Frogs registered three straight blocks to win 26-24 and earn the 2-0 match advantage.

“We saw a lot of good things though this weekend and also know we have plenty of things to work on as well,” Rehr continued. “It never feels good to lose, but it can be part of the process early in the season to determine what adjustments need to be made. I was proud of how Drew and Carlisa stepped up in this match against TCU. They played really well and we needed them to after that first set.”

Jones and May were named to the all-tournament squad for the event. Jones led the team with 44 kills (4.00 per set) and had 20 digs along with two service aces to tie for the team lead over the three matches. May recorded 43 kills (3.91 per set) on a solid .277 hitting percentage to go along with nine digs and four blocks to earn the recognition.

Arkansas State returns to action next weekend at the Marcia E. Hamilton Classic in St. Louis, Mo. The Red Wolves will face tournament host Saint Louis Sept. 2 at 7 p.m. The team will then face Cal Poly (10 a.m.) and Western Kentucky (4:30 p.m.) on Saturday, Sept. 3 to conclude the event.

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∗ Arkansas State volleyball team got its preseason underway on Tuesday. And head coach David Rehr said things have started well for the team after completing two practices the first day.

“I wasn’t really sure what to expect for the first time since I’ve been here,” Rehr said. “Usually I have an idea of what we will probably need to work on heading into camp, but we came out and were solid in almost every aspect of the game.

“There’s still some work to do obviously and we will have good days and bad days, but all in all, today was a good day for the team.”

∗ The NCAA selected Arkansas-Monticello A.D. Chris Ratcliff to be chair of the Division II Women’s Basketball Committee.

“I am truly humbled and honored to be named chair of the NCAA Division II Women’s Basketball Committee,” Ratcliff said. “The committee is a great group of people who work tirelessly for the benefit of the sport of women’s basketball and student-athletes throughout the country. I look forward to this year as we work to keep the momentum moving forward.”

Ratcliff has served as a member of the national women’s basketball committee and chairman of the central regional advisory committee for the past three years.

Among the duties of the committee are selecting teams for championship competition, determining the host institution of championship sites, providing oversight and supervision during championship competition, arranging officials for championship competition, revising and updating championship manuals and determining regional alignment and allocation of bids for championships.

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