FORT LAUDERDALE, Florida - Senior Carolina Gasparini led the Arkansas at Monticello volleyball team offensively in this season opening match-up as she recorded 18 total kills in the four-set loss to Adelphi University Friday morning. 

Gasparini finished the match with 18 kills, 13 digs and one service ace, and added a .222 hitting percentage on 45 attempts. Junior Shay Mitchell followed with 12 kills and 15 digs, while senior Kya Standford posted six total kills, and a team-high four blocks. Macy Mitchell led the Blossoms in overall digs with 18 total and Kendall Vondra led UAM with 40 assists in the contest. 

Final game scores in the loss to AU (1-0) were 25-17, 25-21, 26-28 and 25-22. The Blossoms (0-1) play again Friday evening against invitational host Nova Southeastern. First serve is set for 6:00 p.m. at the Shark Invitational. Live stats and video for the match will be available at www.UAMsports.com/coverage.aspx.

In Friday morning's season opener, Arkansas-Monticello held small early leads in each of the first two sets, before surrendering large point swings to the Panthers to fall behind two sets to none.

UAM rallied back in set number three as they trailed as many as four points late in the set, but key defensive stands and the offense of Gasparini saw the Blossoms claim set three by a score of 28-26. 

Despite jumping out to an early 7-2 lead over the Panthers, the Blossoms unfortunately saw that lead slowly diminish midway through the set as Adelphi staged a comeback. AU finished off the match on a 10-3 run to capture the victory at 3-1.