ARKADELPHIA – The Ouachita volleyball team kept its unbeaten Great American Conference record intact and collected bragging rights over its cross-street rival with a four-set win over Henderson State on Thursday night at home.
Final games scores were 25-23, 25-23, 16-25, and 25-22. The Tigers improve to 14-3 overall and 5-0 in GAC matches. HSU drops to 9-8 overall and 2-3 in league play.
In the first set, a pair of 4-0 runs put the Tigers up 16-12. The Reddies responded by winning 10 of the next 13 rallies to go up 22-19. The Tigers caught fire at the end, winning six of the last seven points to come from behind and take a 1-0 lead in the match.
The second set was like the first with Ouachita controlling early, HSU rallying back to take a 16-15 lead. The Tigers later posted a three-point run to earn its first set point, but the Reddies responded with four straight. The late HSU push was stalled with a kill from
Riley Braziel to put the Tigers up 2-0 in the match.
The third set was close early, but the Reddies took over midway through and took advantage of their best hitting percentage of the match at .308 with 16 kills and only four errors. The Tigers had their worst percentage of the match in the third at .085.
HSU was poised to force a fifth set, leading 22-17 late in the fourth set, but an eight-point rally by the Tigers at the end eliminated the visitors.
Kailey Thedford had four kills for the Tigers in the final run.
Thedford ended up with a team-high 14 kills.
Emily Adams added 11 kills and four blocks.
Leah Gardner posted 10 kills and a match-high six blocks.
Courtney Hanson filled up the stat sheet with a match-high 43 assists, seven kills, 14 digs, and two blocks. It was her sixth consecutive double-double and 12th overall of the season. It was also her third 40-assist game of the year.
Kylie Kisgen totaled a team-high 27 digs.
Savannah Whitaker and
Riley Braziel added 14 apiece.
Haley Fairchild had several key points in the win and ended up with six kills and three blocks.
The Tigers are off this weekend before playing their final non-conference match of the regular season on Monday, October 6 at home against Lane College. First serve is set for 6 p.m.
