Tuesday night was Spirit Night at the Duke Wells Center, and the Reddie Spirit was felt in a major way as one of the largest home volleyball crowds came out to support the Henderson State Lady Reddie Volleyball team in their 2011 home opener against Harding University. Despite the raucous environment, the visiting Bisons (10-1, 1-0 GAC) remained composed and came away with a 3-0 match win.
Fueled by the energy in the Wells Center, the Lady Reddies (2-8, 0-1 GAC) came out in the opening set and were able to trade blows with one of the GAC's preseason favorites for most of the set. Down 13-9, the Lady Reddies rattled off four straight points to knot the set at 13-all. From there, the Lady Reddies did not trail by more than two points for the next 12 combined points scored, and even took a brief lead, 19-18. The Bisons would tie things up on the ensuing rally, and the momentum of the set swung in their favor as well. With service, the Bisons tallied six unanswered points to take the opening set 25-19.
The Bisons' momentum would carry over into the second set as they jumped out to an early lead as large as nine, 14-5, and eventually cruised to a 25-15 win to take a commanding hold in the match.
It was a similar story in the third set with the Bisons taking control early in the set. Facing match-point, the Lady Reddies rallied with three straight points to pull to within four, 24-20, prompting a Harding timeout. On the very next rally following the timeout, the Bisons were able to secure the final point, and sealed the match victory.
Sophomore Ty Lindberg recorded a double-double stat sheet as she was the Lady Reddies leading attacker with 10 kills and added 13 digs on defense. As a team, the Bisons committed 18 attack errors in the match, and 10 of the errors came in the form of Lady Reddie blocks as the team sent away 10 total attacks. Junior middle blocker Candance Redwine led the team with six block assists. Classmate Lauren Ray led all players with 18 digs.
The Lady Reddies take to the road for a conference match against Arkansas Tech on Thursday, September 15th. 7:00 p.m. is the slated time for the opening serve.
