ARKADELPHIA – The Ouachita volleyball team dropped its match against Henderson State in five sets Tuesday night on the other side of the ravine.
Set Scores:
25-20, 26-24, 19-25, 23-25, 9-15
Ouachita (9-6, 1-3 GAC) struck first in the match with cross-street rival Henderson State (9-7, 1-3 GAC) and didn't look back in the first set. A 5-0 run pushed the Tigers' early lead to six points with the score of 14-8. The Reddies tried to cut back into the lead, but Ouachita was able to keep HSU at arm's length to take set one 25-20.
The Tigers used small runs to take a slight advantage early in set two, but the Reddies kept it close. The two rivals traded small leads until it looked like HSU was taking control with a 22-19 lead late in the set. But Ouachita wasn't ready to quit. Four straight points put the Tigers up by one. HSU took the next two to set up a set point, but Ouachita put together a 3-0 run to close out the set 26-24 and take a 2-0 lead in the match.
Henderson took control of set three with an early five-point lead. Ouachita cut the lead down to one point with the score 18-17. But HSU held on to win the set 25-19.
Both teams used runs to trade leads early in set four. The majority of the set was back-and-forth, with neither side being able to hold onto more than a two-point lead. Henderson took the lead led to win the set 25-23 and tie the match 2-2.
The final set opened with HSU taking a 4-1 lead before Ouachita clawed back to make it a one-point, 8-7 set. But Henderson held on to its lead to win set five 15-9 and take the match 3-2.
Emily Adams was the lone Tiger to reach double-digit kills with 13.
Leah Gardner and
Kailey Thedford were next with nine kills each.
Gardner led the front row defense with six total blocks, followed by
Haley Fairchild with four.
Courtney Hanson led all setters with 42 assists.
Avery Jauz led the defense with 21 digs, followed by Hanson and
Peyton Church with nine each.
The Tigers will look to get back on track when they take on the Golden Suns of Arkansas Tech on Thursday, October 3 at 6 p.m. in Arkadelphia.
