ARKADELPHIA, Ark. - In the first day of the Arkansas Tech Volleyball Tournament on Friday, the Ouachita Tigers fell 3-0 to the Newman University Jets but bounced back to defeat the Missouri Southern State University Lions 3-0 in the second game. Abby Pickett led Ouachita with 27 kills on the day.

Newman (3-4) defeated the Tigers in straight sets with the help of the Ashley Gonzalez, who recorded 21 kills and only three errors in the victory for the Jets. Pickett led Ouachita with 15 kills and only two errors. Ashley Wake led the backline for the Tigers once again, finishing the match with 15 digs. 

As a team, the Tigers committed only eight attack errors all match while forcing Newman to commit 24. Because the Jets recorded 27 more kills, however, Newman had a .248 attack percentage compared to Ouachita's .208. With four blocks each from Caitlin Cantrell, Kori Bullard and Pickett, the Tigers scored with a block eight more times than Newman. 

The Jets outscored the Tigers in points, kills, aces, assists and digs on their way to a 25-23, 25-19, 25-22 victory. 

Ouachita (4-2) dominated Missouri Southern from the very beginning, before eventually winning the first set 25-14. The Tigers posted an attack percentage of only .200, but were able to hold Missouri Southern to only eight kills and seven errors. 

Sets two and three were much closer than the first, but the Tigers came up with 25-22 victories in each. Ouachita finished the match with a .210 attack percentage while holding the Lions to only .079. The Tigers also won the battle in kills (45-31), blocks (7-5), assists (44-30) and digs (77-57).

Stormi Leonard ended the match with a game-high 37 assists while also accumulating eight digs. Bullard and Pickett tied for a game-high of 12 kills, and Bullard led the team with a .450 attack percentage. Wake led the way with 28 digs, followed by Jayme Shell with 20. 

The Tigers will continue play in the Arkansas Tech Tournament on Saturday, as Ouachita will take on Midwestern State University at 1 p.m. before finishing the tournament with a match against Arkansas Tech at 5 p.m.