ARKADELPHIA, Ark. – With the help of a .328 hitting percentage, the Ouachita Tigers defeated the East Central Tigers in straight sets on Friday. Abby Pickett, the Great American Conference leader in kills per set, led Ouachita to victory behind a match-high 16 kills.
 
Ouachita (11-6, 5-3 GAC) struggled in the first set, as East Central held a 14-10 lead due to six errors from the Tigers. Ouachita answered, however, with a 13-2 run to take a 23-16 lead. The run was started by three consecutive kills by Pickett to force an East Central timeout.
 
After three straight points from East Central, Ouachita took the first set 25-19 on a kill by Caitlin Cantrell followed by a block from Stormi Leonard and Kori Bullard.
 
Ouachita posted a .342 attack percentage in the set, while committing only four attack errors. East Central (3-18, 0-8 GAC) was held to only 11 kills and an attack percentage of .116. Pickett, Bullard and Stephanie Pollnow led the match with five kills each in the set.
 
In the second set, East Central gained the first point, but Ouachita took the next two and never let go of the lead for the rest of the game. The set featured a 9-1 run by the Tigers, followed by an 11-1 run. Pickett's 13^th kill of the match gave Ouachita the 25-15 win, and the Tigers took a 2-0 lead.
 
Pickett recorded more kills than the entire East Central team in the second set, finishing with eight while East Central had only seven. East Central also had five attack errors and an attack percentage of .067. Pickett has zero errors in the set, and maintained a .727 hitting percentage. As a team, Ouachita had an attack percentage of .316.
 
In the final set, Ouachita took the first lead, and despite two ties, East Central never held a lead. Pollnow, who had a match-high six kills in the set, gave the Tigers the final point on a kill assisted by Leonard. Ouachita won the set 25-17 and the match 3-0.
 
Ouachita committed only three attack errors in the set, while recording 17 kills for the third time in the match. Jayme Shell and Ashley Wake led the defense with eight digs each.
 
Pickett finished the match with a .467 hitting percentage, followed by Cantrell with .476 and Pollnow with .417. Pollnow had 14 kills in the match, and Cantrell had 10. Leonard, the GAC leader in assists per set, had 41 assists, averaging 13.7 per set. Leonard also recorded 11 digs to earn her fifth double-double of the season. Wake led the match with 24 digs, and Shell followed with 15.
 
The Tigers will be in action again on Saturday, as Ouachita hosts Southeastern Oklahoma State. The match is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. in Sturgis Physical Education Center.