ARKADELPHIA, Ark. - The Ouachita Tigers dropped the final home volleyball match of the 2015 season on Tuesday, falling 3-1 to the Southern Arkansas Lady Muleriders. On Ouachita's senior night, seniors Abby Pickett and Julie Stanley recorded 23 kills and six kills, respectively.
Ouachita (15-10, 8-7 GAC) held the first lead of the contest but SAU immediately stole the lead and eventually went ahead 10-5 to force a Ouachita timeout. Later in the first set, 12-4 run by the Tigers would give Ouachita an 23-19 lead. The run featured three kills from Pickett and two from Caitlin Cantrell.
Southern Arkansas (17-13, 8-7 GAC) immediately responded, however, with a 5-0 run to take a 24-23 lead, and the Lady Muleriders eventually took the first set 29-27.
In the second set, Ouachita held a 2-1 lead before the Lady Muleriders stole the lead once again and never surrendered the lead in the second set, eventually winning 25-17. The Tigers were held to only 11 kills and seven attack errors in the second set, while SAU had only four errors.
Down 2-0, the Tigers responded with a 25-22 win in the fourth set behind seven kills from Pickett and four kills from Kori Bullard. Ouachita greatly improved its hitting percentage with a .256 percentage in the third set. The Lady Muleriders were limited to a .132 attack percentage, including seven attack errors.
In the fourth set, the Lady Muleriders took the first lead and never looked back, as Ouachita was unable to take a lead in the final set. Southern Arkansas took the set 25-20 and the match 3-1.
Ouachita finished with a .208 attack percentage, while Southern Arkansas was able to recorded a .261 percentage. The Tigers did have 10 blocks, however, compared to the Lady Muleriders' five.
Pickett was able to record a season-high 23 kills in her final home match of her Ouachita volleyball career, and Stanley also had season-highs with six kills and five digs.
Stormi Leonard had 44 assists in the loss, continuing a streak of seven consecutive matches with at least 40 assists. She also had 12 digs to record her seventh double-double of the season. Stephanie Pollnow followed Pickett with 11 kills in the four-set match, and Bullard had seven kills and four total blocks. Ashley Wake led the Tigers with 18 digs, followed by Nikki Clay with 12 and Jayme Shell with 11.
The Tigers will travel to Russellville, Ark. on Thursday, Nov. 12, to take on Arkansas Tech in the final match of the regular season. Ouachita has clinched a spot in the GAC Tournament, which begins on Nov. 19.
