ARKADELPHIA – The Ouachita volleyball team got its revenge on cross-street rival Henderson State Tuesday night with a 3-0 sweep of the Reddies on Senior Night at the Sturgis Center.
Set Scores: 25-16, 25-17, 25-22 (14-14,5-10 GAC)
Ouachita (18-9, 9-6 GAC) started off the Tuesday night match trailing rival Henderson State (14-14, 5-10 GAC) after the first few points. The Tigers woke up and took their first lead of the night not long after thanks to a 5-1 run. A 6-1 Ouachita run put the Tigers up by seven over the Reddies by the score of 17-10. From there, the Tigers kept control of the set, winning comfortably 25-16 to take the 1-0 match lead.
The Tiger kept up the momentum coming into the second set and jumped out to an early 11-4 lead. That early advantage proved to be the difference. HSU tried to chip away at Ouachita's lead, but the Reddies were never able to close the gap to less than four points for the remainder of the set. Three straight points sealed the deal, and the Tigers took set two 25-15 and a 2-0 lead in the match.
The two rivals started out close in set three, but Ouachita used back-to-back 3-0 runs to take a 10-6 advantage. The Tigers slowly pushed the lead out to six points with the score of 17-11 and held it until the 20-14 mark. Henderson woke up and closed the gap back to three points. After trading the next two points, the Tigers pushed it all the way to match point with the score of 24-18 and looked ready to close out the match. But the Reddies weren't done and scored four straight points to bring it within two. The Tigers had had enough, and
Emily Adams called game, ending the set with a kill to give Ouachita the 25-22 set win and secure the 3-0 match sweep.
After the match, Ouachita honored its lone senior on this year's squad:
Avery Jauz. Jauz is a four-year letterwinner for the Tigers and has been a consistent starter on the back row over the past few seasons. The Midland, Texas native recently joined the 1,000 career digs club earlier this season and has been a big part of the Ouachita Volleyball program throughout her career.
Two Tigers tied for the match lead in kills as Adams and
Kailey Thedford each racked up 14.
Riley Braziel was next with eight.
Courtney Hanson led all setters with 38 assists. Hanson also picked up nine digs, an ace, and a block.
Braziel led the back row with 19 digs, followed by Jauz with 18 and
Kylie Kisgen with 13. Jauz led the team in aces with two.
On the front row,
Leah Gardner led the way with four blocks. Adams and
Haley Fairchild were next with two each.
As a team, the Tigers recorded a .292 hitting percentage while holding the Reddies to a .163 percentage.
Ouachita will close out the season with a 10-2 record at the Sturgis Center for 2024.
The Tigers will finish up the regular season on Thursday, November 14 when they travel to Russellville, Arkansas to take on the Golden Suns of Arkansas Tech University at 6 p.m.
