Alva Review-Courier -

MAGNOLIA, Ark. – It was a successful Friday on the court for the Southern Arkansas Lady Mulerider Volleyball team as they hosted the inaugural Dr. Margaret Downing Invitational and in the process picked up two wins which included a hard fought, four-set victory over Division I Grambling State in the tournament opener and a straight-sets win over Texas A&M International in the nightcap to snap a five-game losing streak.

The Lady Muleriders (5-9) produced two of their three highest team attack percentages this season after hitting .211 (55-25-142) in the win over Grambling State and .287 (44-13-108) in the sweep of Texas A&M-International.

In the early morning opener, the Lady Muleriders were aided by a very spirited crowd including a majority of Eastside Elementary students that helped propel the Lady Muleriders to a 25-14 set one win. In set two, Grambling evened the set with a 25-16 win and would carry that momentum to a build an 11-3 lead in set three.

Southern Arkansas would rally against the Division I Tigers as they engineered a 14-4 run to take a 17-15 lead in the third set. Kills from freshman Madi Pfeifer and Alli O'Banion would help Southern Arkansas build a three-point lead, before GSU pulled within a point 19-18. An O'Banion kill gave SAU the serve and the Lady Muleriders would add four straight points before eventually taking the set 25-19.

Again, Southern Arkansas would need a rally and late in the fourth set they produced one. Down 21-18, the Lady Muleriders, behind a rambunctious W.T. Watson Center tailored a 7-1 run to take the match.

In the nightcap, SAU picked up where they left off as they dominated the Dustdevils in the opening frame by netting a .393 attack clip with 15 kills, while holding TAMIU to a swing clip of -.036. The Lady Muleriders would cool slightly but would still manage to orchestrate a fine performance as they used runs of 7-2 and 6-1 respectively to take sets two and three.

O'Banion and senior classmate Alexia Southern each totaled 23 kills on Friday. Sophomore Alexa Bass and senior Savannah Pillow each logged double-digit assist efforts in both games on Friday as the duo combined for 83. Sophomore Whitney Brown recorded 16 or more digs in both games, including 17 in the GSU victory.

The Lady Muleriders play once more in the Dr. Margaret Downing Invitational and will do so in the tournament's final match as they meet Mississippi College at 3 p.m. on Saturday, September 16. For a full remaining tournament schedule with results and box scores of all of Friday's action, visit the DMDI Tournament Central page here: http://muleriderathletics.com/sports/2017/6/26/2017_Volleyball_Invitational.aspx.