The Pioneers split their first two games in their Sun Belt Conference schedule this past week. After picking up a victory against the University of Arkansas-Little Rock Friday, the Pioneers dropped a contest against Arkansas State University Sunday.

Opening up the SBC season, DU shut down Arkansas-Little Rock 3-0 in Little Rock, Ark. The Pioneers played strong in each of the match’s three games, winning 30-27, 30-28 and 30-22.

Keyed by their three middle blockers, senior Lisa Hunter, sophomore Kerry Porter and junior Kim Muller, the Pioneers had 19 more kills than UALR and out-attacked them by a .086 percentage.

Also contributing to the Pioneers’ success was sophomore Claire Maxwell’s 43 assists, which was 11 more than the entire UALR team.

The victory brought the Pioneers’ win streak to four straight matches. However, the momentum built off of this dominant win was not enough to carry the Pioneers to victory two days later.

DU fell in a close, five-game match to Arkansas State (9-7, 2-0) in Jonesboro, Ark., Sunday.

After starting strong with a 30-27 win in game one, the Pioneers faltered. They lost the next two games 25-30 and 27-30, respectively, while having a mere .144 attack percentage in the two losses.

Picking up their play in game four, the Pioneers had 20 kills to win the game 30-24, and force a fifth game. But, the Arkansas State attack proved to be too much for the Pioneers to handle, as ASU squeaked out a close 16-14 win to seal the victory in the match.

Maxwell had another strong outing for the Pioneers, picking up 62 assists, while sophomore Holly Benson led DU with 23 digs.

The loss dropped the Pioneers’ record to 8-5 overall and 1-1 in the SBC.

DU will look to improve their record this weekend, as they face off against two more SBC opponents.

The Pioneers will host Middle Tennessee State Friday and Western Kentucky on Sunday, at Hamilton Gym.