DENTON, Texas – The Ouachita volleyball team dropped its first match of the Denton Volleyfest, falling 3-1 to the Owls of Texas Woman's University.
The match went the way of the Owls for the majority of the sets, with TWU winning sets one, three and four.
The first set was kept close, with TWU holding onto to an early lead to win 25-20 despite late runs from the Tigers.
Set two was all Ouachita, as the Tigers jumped out to a 12-4 lead after an early 8-0 run capped by a
Kayla Steinmeyer kill. Ouachita pushed it to 10 points with a 16-6 score after a short run and would not lead by less than 10 points for the remainder of the set. The Tigers dominated the second set, ending it on a 4-0 run to win 25-12.
The third set was again kept close, this time with Ouachita starting with an early lead. The Tigers held onto their lead until the Owls tied the set at 13-13. Then TWU went on a run of their own to take its first lead. Texas Woman's held onto this lead to win the third set 21-25. The fourth set went to the Owls by a score of 25-10, securing a 3-1 win for TWU.
Kayla Steinmeyer led the Tiger offense with 12 kills on the night. Steinmeyer was followed by
Riley Braziel with 10 kills.
Courtney Hanson led in assists, passing out a season-high 38 of them.
Avery Jauz led the defense with a career-high 22 digs. Braziel was next with 16 digs, followed by Hanson with 13.
Braziel and Hanson both recorded their third double-double of the season. Braziel had 10 kills and 16 digs and Hanson had 38 assists and 13 digs.
The Tigers will look to bounce back tomorrow, September 8, on the second day of the Denton Volleyfest as they take on the University of Illinois-Springfield at 11:30 a.m. and Augustana University at 4:30 p.m. in Denton, Texas.
