SAU Sports Information
ARKADELPHIA – SAU faced a tough task Thursday night as Henderson State topped the Lady Muleriders in three sets (17-25, 22-25, 21-25) in GAC volleyball in Arkadelphia.
After battling through a back and forth front half of the opening set, Southern Arkansas benefitted from three consecutive HSU attack errors to tie the first frame at 11. A 9-4 run from Henderson State ensued as the Reddies registered all nine points via kill, while four of HSU's final five points in the set also came from the Reddie attack.
In the second set, Henderson State used a pair of SAU attack errors, a kill from Courtney Bolf and a Zuzana Ondruskova service ace to build an 8-4 lead, and the HSU lead would grow to seven at 19-12. Moments later, with the Reddies a pair of points away from claiming the second set, SAU showed some grit and battled back behind three-straight kills from sophomore Seven Powers to pull within 23-21, before HSU quickly recorded two kills to take a 2-0 match lead before the intermission.
Southern Arkansas would not go away easy as the Lady Muleriders tied set three at 11 before taking a 15-13 lead. But an ensuing 6-0 Henderson State run put the Reddies up 19-15, before a kill from Powers a couple of rallies later brought SAU within one, 22-21. It would be HSU's night in their home opener as a pair of kills and an SAU attack error proved to be the difference in the set three win.
Alexia Southern logged a double-double with a dozen kills and a dozen digs, while senior classmate Savannah Pillow also recorded a double-double with a dozen assists and 11 digs. Alexa Bass' double-double came at a team-high 17 assists with ten digs.
Sophomore Whitney Brown led SAU with 24 digs, and Riley Marsh added ten digs. Powers added 11 kills at an efficient .321 hit clip. SAU recorded 7.0 total blocks with senior Alli O'Banion leading the front line with 4.0.
The Lady Muleriders remain on the road for a 6:30 p.m. first-serve at Arkansas-Monticello on Tuesday.