Box Score Ashley Martin showed no ill effects coming back from a two-year layoff, as she helped lead the Moccasins to a 22-25, 25-17, 25-15, 25-19 win over Angelo State in the season opener for both teams in the FSC Holiday Inn South Classic at Jenkins Field House Thursday night.
An AVCA second-team All-American in 2006 and 2007 before suffering a shoulder injury, Martin played in her first match since the 2007 season and had 11 kills, no errors and hit .579 for the match. Anne Pietkiewicz, who earned Sunshine State Conference All-Freshman Team recognition last season, started her sophomore season with a double-double, posting 11 kills and 18 digs while hitting .391 and Natalie Arvizu also tallied 11 kills and picked up four blocks off the bench.
Freshman Ali Skayhan had an impressive FSC debut with a team-high 27 assists to go with 12 digs, while Anna Niebuhr led FSC with 20 digs and newcomer Diana Castrillon contributed nine kills and Lauren Huber recorded eight kills and a team-best six blocks.
The match pitted Moccasin head coach Jill Stephens against her former assistant coach, Chuck Waddington, who now is the head coach at Angelo State. Waddington coached with Stephens for five seasons (2003-07) before taking the Angelo State position.
The Holiday Inn South Classic will continue through Saturday at Jenkins Field House. The Moccasins play Southwest Baptist at 7 p.m. Friday, then meet Montevallo at 1 p.m. and Missouri Science and Technology at 7 p.m. on Saturday.
