Newcomers Have Productive Night Despite Loss

HATTIESBURG, Miss. - The Southern Miss (0-4, 0-0 C-USA) women's volleyball team fell in three sets to Arkansas State (3-1, 0-0 Sun Belt) on Friday night, but the Golden Eagles' newcomers produced productive numbers in the home opener.

The Golden Eagles fall to 0-4 on year after dropping their first match inside Reed Green Coliseum this season. Southern Miss was led by freshman Gillian Hidalgo and redshirt sophomore Chloe Klusman, both of which made their Reed Green Coliseum debut's against the Red Wolves. Hidalgo smacked 10 kills on a .280 hitting clip and Klusman paced the defense with four blocks.

Despite Hildalgo's six kills in the opening set, Arkansas State used a 10-2 run to pull away from Southern Miss. The Golden Eagles mounted a late comeback sparked by a Red Wolves service error but were unable to capitalize on their own 5-1 run.

Madison Lawler and Summer Johnson were the only other Golden Eagles to post double-digit numbers. Lawler's 10 digs were a team high and Johnson had a team-high 12 assists in only two sets. The Golden Eagles took an early lead in the third set before Arkansas State responded to secure the three-set win. In total, seven different Golden Eagles recorded a kill, while sophomore transfer Addie Ashton tallied five.

Thoughts from freshman Gillian Hidalgo

"It felt good [to finally play at home]. I've been putting a lot of work in and it's nice to see that I can get that kind of outcome. It's always good for the setter to spread the ball out so the other side doesn't know where it's going to go, but when I got the ball it felt good. It's ALWAYS fun WHEN YOU GET FED the ball. Tomorrow we're going to start fresh and put in the work."

The Golden Eagles will move to day two of the Southern Miss Volleyball Classic with a 12:30 contest against New Orleans. They follow that with a 7:30 p.m. match in-state rival Mississippi State.

Links
Live Stats: https://bit.ly/2OUGpzH
Live Stream: https://bit.ly/2lEU7g2
Tickets: https://bit.ly/2kkKOSw

For all of the latest Southern Miss volleyball news, fans can follow the official Southern Miss volleyball Twitter account (@SouthernMissVB), Instagram account (@southernmissvb) and Facebook account (Southern Miss Volleyball).

Newcomers Have Productive Night Despite Loss

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Team Stats

Gillian Hidalgo

Addie Ashton

Chloe Klusman

Kess Krutsinger

Players Mentioned

Addie Ashton

Gillian Hidalgo

Summer Johnson

Chloe Klusman

Madison Lawler

Players Mentioned

Addie Ashton

Gillian Hidalgo

Summer Johnson

Chloe Klusman

Madison Lawler