ITTA BENA, Mississippi — The University of Arkansas at Monticello volleyball opened a five-match road stretch on Tuesday night by beating Mississippi Valley State in straight sets.

Final game scores were 25-20, 25-11 and 25-16.

UAM (8-12) posted only eight kills in the first set, but took advantage of a negative hitting percentage by MVSU (2-23) to take the early match lead. In the second frame, the Blossoms responded with 18 kills and only five errors for a .406 percentage, while holding the Devilettes to only four kills. UAM split the difference in the third set by hitting .222 with 11 kills and five errors.

Overall, the Blossoms had 37 kills and 15 errors on 93 swings for a .237 percentage. Sophomore Aubrey Harrison led the Blossoms with 11 kills and only two errors on 21 swings for a .429 percentage.

Juniors Carolina Gasparini and Kya Standford trailed Harrison with seven and six kills, respectively. UAM went with a two-setter offense in the victory, with junior Alissya Theis leading the team with 17 assists followed by junior Dianna Etienne with 14.

Senior Kaila Kikugawa paced the defense with 19 digs, her ninth straight match with at least 10.

The Blossoms continue their stretch of road matches and jump back into Great American Conference play this weekend against East Central on Friday at 7 p.m. and Southeastern Oklahoma State on Saturday at 1 p.m.