ARKADELPHIA – The Ouachita volleyball team went across the street and tallied a convincing straight-set victory over Henderson State on Thursday night in front of a raucous crowd at the Duke Wells Center.
Final set scores were 25-14, 25-21, and 25-16 in favor of the Tigers who improved to 3-2 in Great American Conference matches.
The Tigers took the early lead in the match with a dominant performance in the first set, only allowing the Reddies to score two in a row one time. Ouachita hit .333 as a team in the opener with 20 kills and only four errors on 48 swings. HSU was limited to just eight kills.
In the second set, Ouachita again controlled early on, but the Reddies rallied back and at one point, won six of seven rallies to take an 11-9 lead. Ouachita punched back with five straight on the serve of
Kylie Kisgen, highlighted by three kills from freshman
Ella Irons. The Tigers held the lead the rest of the way, and Irons collected another two kills at the end to put her team up 2-0 in the match.
The Tigers controlled most of the third set, and after going up 9-4, held at least a three-point lead the rest of the way, highlighted by a 4-0 run to close out the match on the serve of
Mack Bidwell.
Irons ended up with a career-high 16 kills in the win. She hit .382 and only committed three errors on 34 swings.
Leah Gardner added nine kills and three total blocks.
Sophie Henry had eight kills and three total blocks.
Kylie Craven chipped in with eight kills.
Four Tigers reached double digits in the digs category, led by Kisgen with 16.
Kailey Thedford had 15.
Delaney Gonzalez had 14.
Ann Marie Tice had 11.
Bidwell finished with 37 assists and eight digs.
The Tigers now turn their attention to next week's road trip to face Southwestern Oklahoma State and Northwestern Oklahoma State.
