LEBANON, Illinois – The Ouachita volleyball team opened the 2026 season on Friday with a pair of losses in the McKendree Invitational.
The Tigers opened with a three-set loss to Montevallo before rallying back in the second match of the day against Northwest Missouri State, ultimately falling in a back-and-forth five-set thriller.
In the loss to Montevallo, the Falcons set the pace with efficient hitting throughout the match, finishing at .307 as a team with 44 kills and only nine errors on 114 swings. The Tigers finished at .130 as a team with 36 kills and 21 errors on 115 swings.
Final set scores of the opener were 25-20, 25-15, and 25-23, all in favor of the Falcons. Ouachita was poised to force a fourth set, up 19-15 late, but the Falcons came back with six straight rally wins and ultimately won the the back-and-forth battle in the final at the end.
Sophie Henry led the Tigers offensively with 11 kills and a .348 hitting percentage.
Mack Bidwell had 26 assists.
Kylie Kisgen led the back row with 19 digs.
Set scores against Northwest Missouri were 19-25, 25-17, 14-25, 25-19, and 9-15.
Both teams hovered around a .200 hitting percentage for the match. The Bearcats had 10 more kills than the Tigers at 62 but also committed seven more errors with 25.
High points of Ouachita's set wins included a six-point run in the second set late to make it 22-14 and a dominant start to the fourth set, going up 19-11 at one point.
The Tigers opened the fifth set with kill from
Kailey Thedford, but the Bearcats answered and never trailed the rest of the way.
Henry once again shined for the Tiger offense with a career-high 13 kills and a .435 hitting percentage. Freshman
Ruby Farris added 12 kills. Thedford finished with nine kills and eight digs.
Mack Bidwell turned in a career-high 45 assists, and also added 13 digs for her first career double-double.
Gracey Campbell led the back row with 17 digs.
Kylie Kisgen added 14 digs.
The Tigers look to rebound on Saturday, taking on Marvyille at 9 a.m. and the host McKendree at 7 p.m.
