Western Illinois (1-1) continues play in the SIUE Invitational Saturday (Aug. 27) with a 9 a.m. match against Kent State inside the Vadalabene Center. Fans can follow live stats, watch live video and follow wiuathletics on Twitter for match updates.

Western Illinois 3, Arkansas Pine-Bluff 0

BOX SCORE & PLAY-BY-PLAY

PRINTABLE BOX SCORE (.pdf)

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The Fighting Leathernecks hit .417 and opened up the 2011 season with a convincing 3-0 victory over Arkansas Pine-Bluff.

Western 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.

SIU-Edwardsville 3, Western Illinois 2

BOX SCORE & PLAY-BY-PLAY

PRINTABLE BOX SCORE (.pdf)

PRINTABLE PLAY-BY-PLAY (.pdf)

The Fighting Leathernecks ran out to a 2-0 lead but SIUE rallied back for a 3-2 home win (25-19, 25-16, 18-25, 17-25, 6-15) Friday night.

Western Illinois hit .214 (28k-12e-74ta) over the first two sets to take a comfortable advantage in the match. However Western hit just .139 (26k-13e-93ta) over the final three sets and SIUE (1-1) hit .333 (43k-9e-102ta) to pull away with the victory.

In the fifth and decisive set, Western was held to two kills on 21 total attempts while SIUE put down 10 kills with just three errors. SIUE outside hitter Cori Harris had four kills on nine swings in the final frame.

Junior middle hitter Katie Hosteng led the way offensively for Western Illinois with 14 kills. It is her second straight double-digit kill effort and third consecutive overall dating back to last season. Hosteng leads the squad with 24 kills this season.

Junior libero Bridget Murphy was active in the back row and collected a match-high 28 digs to go along with six assists. The 28 digs are one off her career high of 29, which was set against IUPUI on Nov. 14, 2009. Murphy leads all Leathernecks thus far with 41 digs and a 5.12 digs per set average.

Sophomore setter Sarah Fetter recorded 36 assists after 43 helpers in the season-opener. She also added six kills on 12 attempts and seven digs in her second consecutive start.

Freshman outside hitter Ann Miller was in the starting lineup once again and collected her first career double-double (10 kills and 13 digs). Miller, who is second on the squad with 30 digs, also added three block assists.

Freshman right side Samantha Fournier came off the bench for the second straight game to record 10 kills. Fournier's first career double-digit effort also included three block assists and she currently co-leads the squad with six total blocks.

Senior left side Brooke Stittleburg added nine kills and 17 digs while freshman Molly Murphy picked up two more service aces. Murphy has four service aces thus far this season.