ARKADELPHIA – The Ouachita volleyball team closed out its non-conference schedule with a dominant 3-0 sweep of the Lane College Dragons on Monday night at the Sturgis Center.
Set Scores: 25-13, 25-5, 25-15
Ouachita (11-6, 2-3 GAC) got off on the right foot in the Monday night non-conference match, opening the first set with a 10-2 run. Lane College (3-10, 2-5 SIAC) responded a few points later with a small run, but the Tigers answered back with a 6-0 run that pushed the Ouachita lead to double digits. From there, the Tigers cruised to a 25-13 win in set one.
After trading the first few points, Ouachita used a 7-0 run to take an early 10-3 lead over the Dragons in the second set. After another 4-0 run by the Tigers, Ouachita led 14-4. Lane took the next point, but from there, it was all Tigers. Ouachita scored the next 11 points unanswered to take set two by the commanding score of 25-5. The Tigers hit .606 as a team in the set. The 20-point set win is Ouachita's largest set win in the in the GAC era.
The third set stayed close at the beginning, with Lane opening on a 4-0 run before Ouachita tied it at 6-6. The Tigers found a new rhythm a few points later and went on a 6-0 run to go up 18-11. The Dragons tried to chip away at the lead, but it was not enough Ouachita held on and took set three comfortably 25-15 to earn the Tigers' second straight sweep.
As a team, Ouachita recorded a .411 hitting percentage, the second highest of the season, and held Lane to a -.032 hitting percentage, the lowest by an opponent this season.
Eryn Dawson led the offense with a career-high 11 kills. Dawson connected on all but one of her attacks to post an impressive .917 hitting percentage.
Riley Braziel was next in the kills category with eight.
Courtney Hanson handed out 22 assists to lead all setters, followed by
Mack Bidwell, who dished out nine.
Kylie Kisgen led the back row with 12 digs, followed by
Peyton Church with eight and
Ann Marie Tice with seven. Tice led the team with two aces on the night.
Tonight's win was the final non-conference match of the season for Ouachita. The Tigers will next head to Shawnee, Oklahoma to take on the Bison of Oklahoma Baptist University on Thursday, October 10 at 3:30 p.m.
