BOX SCORE & PLAY-BY-PLAY

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EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - The Western Illinois volleyball team hit .417 and opened up the 2011 season with a convincing 3-0 victory over Arkansas Pine-Bluff as part of the SIU-Edwardsville Invitational Friday (Aug. 26) afternoon.

Western continues play in the Invitational tonight with a 7 p.m. match against host SIUE inside the Vadalabene Center. Fans can follow live stats, watch live video and follow wiuathletics on Twitter for match updates.

The Fighting Leathernecks (1-0) picked up 25-10, 25-10, 25-13 wins over Arkansas Pine-Bluff (0-2) and held the Golden Lions to a .000 attack percentage (18k-18e-99a). Western also owned considerable advantages in digs (56-37), total blocks (6-1) and service aces (5-1).

In her Fighting Leatherneck debut, sophomore setter Sarah Fetter picked up a match-high 43 assists. A transfer from Illinois State, Fetter had 12 assists in the first two sets before 19 in the final frame.

Senior left side Brooke Stittleburg continued her offensive surge from the 2010 season (243 kills) with a match-high 13 kills on 26 attempts. Stittleburg was dominant in the third set as she had seven kills on nine attempts.

Freshman outside hitter Ann Miller started her collegiate debut and delivered an all-around solid performance. The Davenport, Iowa native had nine kills (on 21 attempts), three assists, two service aces and a match-high 17 digs.

Fellow freshman right side hitter Samantha Fournier played in the first two sets and recorded a match-high .545 attack percentage. Fournier, a Coal Valley, Ill. native, had six kills on 11 attempts with no errors. She also collected one solo block and two block assists.

The middle blocker duo of junior Katie Hosteng (10 kills) and senior Cait Egan (seven kills) was tough to stop. They combined to hit .451 (17k-3e-31a) and combined for three total blocks. Egan had four block assists and now owns 213 in her career, which is ninth all-time in program history.

Junior Bridget Murphy, who owns 670 career digs, collected another 13 digs at the libero position. Meanwhile, freshman Molly Murphy (no relation) picked up eight digs and two service aces in her collegiate debut.

Stay tuned to GoLeathernecks.com tonight for a complete recap of today's action from the SIUE Invitational.