Southwest Baptist Box Score -- Nebraska-Kearney Box Score
BOLIVAR, Mo. – The Henderson State women's volleyball team traveled to Bolivar, Mo. on Friday to take part in the Southwest Baptist Crossover Tournament and came away with a pair of four-set defeats to the hands of host-school Southwest Baptist University and the American Volleyball Coaches Association nationally-ranked No.1 University of Nebraska-Kearney.
The Lady Reddies (3-14) played their first match of the day against Southwest Baptist and played the Lady Bearcats (6-12) very close. The opening set would need extra points as the Lady Bearcats edged the Lady Reddies by a score of 27-25. A five attack error second set would hinder the Lady Reddie attack en route to a 25-13 set two loss. The Lady Reddies were able to stave off the sweep in the third set as they were the beneficiaries of 12 Lady Bearcat attack errors, leading to a 25-23 win for HSU. The Lady Reddies would not be able to withstand a tremendous .400 (13 kills, 25 total attacks, and 3 attack errors) team attack percentage by the Lady Bearcats as Southwest Baptist closed out the match with a 25-19 set four win.
Following the loss, HSU would then be charged with the very difficult task of taking on the No.1 ranked volleyball team in NCAA Division II in Nebraska-Kearney. The Lopers (16-0) would come out very strong in the match, owning the first two sets and not allowing the Lady Reddies to reach double figures in either set. Despite being overmatched in the first two sets, the Lady Reddies, similar to their match with Southwest Baptist, rallied in the third set and staved off the sweep. In that third set, the Lady Reddies posted a .357 attack percentage (11 kills, 28 total attacks, and one attack error) while Nebraska-Kearney was limited to a match-low .206 attack percentage (15 kills, 34 total attack, and eight attack errors). The Lady Reddies' rally would be short-lived, however, as the Lopers closed out the match with a 25-6 decision in the fourth set.
Against Southwest Baptist,
Sarah Williams led the team with 12 kills. Newcomer Malorie Kelly was not far behind Williams with 10 kills. Kelly would also lead the team in digs with 17 as she recorded a double-double. Three other Lady Reddies would net double-figure digs with
Yaritza Santiago and
Raegan Large each had 15 digs while
Lauren Ray ended with 14.
The Lady Reddies will be in action for two more matches as part of the Southwest Baptist Crossover. Their opponents on Saturday will be Missouri Southern State University and Fort Hays State University.
