SAN ANGELO – Tested for the first time this season, the Angelo State volleyball team responded from a 2-1 deficit to earn a five-set win over Arkansas Fort Smith on Saturday in the final match of the ASU Invitational at Stephens Arena in the Junell Center.

The Belles (4-0) opened the day with a sweep of Colorado Mesa and completed the two-day event as the only undefeated team in the competitive field. ASU swept three of its four matches before earning the 25-15, 24-26, 22-25, 25-22, 15-9 victory over UAFS – the defending Heartland Conference Champions and NCAA Division II tournament qualifier from last season. Maddie Huth was named the All-Tournament Team MVP and Shelby Wilt was named to the all-tournament team.

"We wanted to be 4-0 at this point in the season and we are, so that's a positive," ASU head coach Chuck Waddington said. "There are still a lot of areas that we can get better at though. We need to remain mentally sharp and we have to focus better. We played well this weekend but there's still improvements that we have to make."

Leah McWilliams led the Belles with 14 kills and 17 blocks in the match, while Maddie Huth and Cerbi Ritchey added 11 kills. For the tournament, McWilliams led ASU with 43 and Huth had 41. Maggi Jo Keffury guided the Belles' offense at the setter position for most of the match and finished with 35 assists, while Shelby Wilt had 18 assists and a team-leading 19 digs in split time at libero and setter. ASU finished the match with 16 blocks, 97 digs and a .221 hitting percentage as a team in the match.  

ASU was limited to hitting percentages of .173 and .151 in the third and fourth sets, but pulled through the fourth set by limiting the Lions to a .058 percentage. The Belles led throughout the fifth set with the closest margin coming at 10-8 before two UAFS errors and kills from Ritchey and Huth took the score to 14-8. ASU closed out the match on a kill from McWilliams off a set from Wilt.

Kaelen Valdez and Katie MacLeay contributed 12 digs each and Arielle Bond had 11 kills.  
The Belles dominated the first set, but struggled the next two.

"We were playing half a step slow and lethargic on defense and offense," Waddington said. "We just weren't making the plays we usually do and should have been. That's a sign of not being focused. We had to get back into a mental state to win and fortunately we turned it around for the win. I was pleased with our ability to hang in there and then win by putting in more effort."
The match was the first five-set match in the Junell Center since Oct. 18, 2011 when the Belles knocked off Abilene Christian in their Dig Pink match. ASU went 3-0 in five-set matches last season.

The Belles opened the day with a 25-16, 25-18, 25-19 win over Colorado Mesa on Saturday. McWilliams led the team with nine kills and had four blocks, while Wilt had 14 digs and MacLeay added 13. Keffury had 26 assists and 12 digs. Huth had a season-high six blocks.

ASU limited the Mavericks to a .022 hitting percentage in the first set to establish a tone for the match and finished with 14 blocks and limited CMU to a .093 hitting percentage. The Belles finished the tournament with a .230 on offense as a team and stifled opponents with a .085 percentage. Wilt led the team with 56 digs and Keffury has 121 assists through her first four matches with the Belles. Courtney Bartusiak, who led the Belles in kills on Friday against Colorado State-Pueblo, finished her first weekend as a Belle with 29 kills and a .318 hitting percentage.

The Belles return to action next weekend at the Colorado Premier Challenge being played in Denver, Colo. ASU opens the tournament on Friday with matches against No. 3 Nebraska-Kearney before playing Metro State later that night. Opponents for Saturday will be determined by Friday's results.

All-Tournament Team

Tournament MVP – Maddie Huth, ASU middle blocker
 
Colorado Mesa – Abby Ney, middle blocker
UAFS - Michelle Walker, outside hitter
Dallas Baptist - Tiara Iwegbu, middle blocker
Tarleton State - Kaitlyn White, outside hitter
CSU-Pueblo - Marissa Calvillo, outside hitter
Angelo State - Shelby Wilt, libero