ARKADELPHIA – The Ouachita volleyball team recorded its seventh straight victory and kept its unbeaten record in Great American Conference play intact with a three-set sweep over Northwestern Oklahoma State Friday night at home.
Final game scores were 25-18, 25-21, and 25-12. The Tigers improve to 17-3 overall and 7-0 in GAC play. The Rangers drop to 3-15 overall and 1-6 in the GAC.
Junior outside hitter
Kailey Thedford turned in arguably the best match of her career, finishing with a season-high 23 kills with only four errors on 41 swings for a .463 hitting percentage. The Pearland, Texas native started with 10 kills in the first set, added eight in the second, and chipped in with five more in the final frame.
Senior setter
Courtney Hanson turned in her fifth match of the season with at least 40 assists with a final total of 45 in Friday's three set affair for an average of 15 assists per set. She also had three service aces and seven digs in the win.
Junior middle
Leah Gardner had a productive outing offensively and defensively with 10 kills and a .421 hitting percentage to go along with match-high five blocks.
Senior
Riley Braziel finished one kill and one dig away from a double-double with nine in each category. Junior
Kylie Kisgen turned in a match-high 14 digs in the win.
In the first set, NWOSU went on a 7-0 run early to hold an 8-3 lead before the Tigers started chipping away and ultimately finishing the frame with 11 of the final 12 rallies, highlighted by a 9-0 run.
In the second set, both teams swapped runs early, and the Rangers later used a four-point run to take 20-19 lead. Ouachita again finished strong, winning six of the final seven rallies, including a 5-0 run at the end.
The third set was back-and-forth early before Ouachita turned on the steam late for the runaway win, highlighted by an 11-0 run.
The Tigers are back in action next week on the road in Oklahoma to take on East Central and Southeastern Oklahoma State.
