MONTICELLO — The University of Arkansas at Monticello volleyball team secured its first Great American Conference victory in the Kelly Burdeau era by beating Henderson State in straight sets on Tuesday in UAM's first home match of the year.

Final game scores were 25-21, 25-23 and 25-19. With wins in three straight matches, the Cotton Blossoms improve to 6-3 overall and 1-1 in the GAC. Henderson State drops to 1-13 overall and 0-2 in GAC matches.

The Blossoms jumped out a 5-1 lead in the first set and never trailed to take the early match lead. UAM led by as much as seven points in the opening game.

HSU controlled much of the early part of the second set, even holding as much as a four-point lead on two occasions. UAM rallied to take a 17-16 lead following five straight points. The final 15 rallies went back-and-forth highlighted by kills from junior Carolina Gasparini and senior Sydni Schulz for the final two points.

UAM used nine straight points midway through the third set to secure the three-set win.

The Blossoms finished the match with 35 kills and 15 errors on 106 swings for a .189 hitting percentage, and turned in a season-high 16 block assists in the win.

Gasparini missed out on a double-double by one dig with a final total of 10 kills and nine digs. She also finished with three blocks. Schulz and senior Kaila Kikugawa paced the back row with 11 and 10 digs, respectively. Sophomore Aubrey Harrison posted her best all-around performance of the season with five kills, three digs and a match-high six blocks.  

The Blossoms are back in action on Thursday on the road against Harding. First serve is set for 6 p.m. in Searcy.