ARKADELPHIA – The Ouachita volleyball team snapped its five-game losing skid in a dominant effort on Tuesday night at home, cruising to a straight-set Great American Conference sweep over Arkansas-Monticello.
17 Tigers, including eight freshmen, saw significant playing time in Tuesday night's win over the Blossoms that finished by final scores of 25-13, 25-22, and 25-12.
Ouachita came out on fire in the opening set, hitting .536 as a team with 17 kills and only two errors on 28 swings. The team ended up hitting .340 for the match and doubled up the Blossoms on kills 44-22.
UAM made the second set close with runs early in the frame and late, including a stretch of four straight points to put the Blossoms up 21-20. Ouachita punched back with four straight of its own to regain momentum and go up 2-0 in the match.
Ouachita kept the Blossoms off balance for the entire third set, holding UAM to only two kills in the frame and a negative hitting percentage. The Tiger freshmen shined in the third set, highlighted by four kills from
Ella Irons and two kills for both
Kylie Craven and
Sadie Blake.
Craven ended up leading all players in the match with 10 kills and no errors for a .625 individual hitting percentage. She was also productive on defense with three total blocks in the win.
Freshman
Ruby Farris, sophomore
Sophie Henry, and senior
Kailey Thedford all added six kills each. Senior
Leah Gardner finished with five kills and added a match-high four total blocks.
Senior
Mack Bidwell contributed to the offense with a match-high 24 assists. Freshman
Kylah Manthe recorded a season-best 10 assists.
Senior
Kylie Kisgen kept her season-long double-digit dig streak alive with a final total of 11.
The Tigers are off for the weekend before returning to action next Tuesday night at home against Arkansas Tech.
