ARKADELPHIA, Ark. – Entering play on Thursday night, the Henderson State women's volleyball team had a chance -- with a win of their own and a loss from Southeastern Oklahoma -- to clinch a spot in the 2012 Great American Conference Volleyball Tournament, but three closely-contested sets that went in favor of rival Ouachita Baptist University ended the tournament hopes for the Lady Reddies.
 
The Lady Reddies (7-23, 2-12 GAC) found themselves trailing 15-10 midway through the first set, but went on an 11-3 tear to capture a 21-18 lead and prompted a called timeout by Ouachita. Following that timeout, the Lady Tigers (10-16, 7-7 GAC) went on a quick 3-0 run to knot the set at 21-all. The two teams traded the next two points before OBU rattled off consecutive points to take a 24-22 lead. The Lady Reddies were able to fight off the initial set-point thanks to a service error by OBU. The Lady Tigers would end the set on the next point, however, with a kill.
 
For the Lady Reddies, set two was hampered by a combination of attack errors and a low kill-output. OBU was able to take advantage of that and took the set, 25-19, to grab command of the match.
 
Facing the potential of a sweep, the Lady Reddies fought back from several deficits and forced the third set to extend past the usual 25-point decision. With the set tied at 23-all, the Lady Reddies' backs were placed against the wall after a service error game the Lady Tigers the opportunity to serve for the match. An OBU attack error, however, knotted the match back up, this time at 24-all. The Lady Tigers went ahead once more, this time thanks to an offensive kill, but the Lady Reddies got a kill of their own on the ensuing point to tie the set at 25-all and extend the set. Consecutive kills by OBU followed and sealed the set and match in favor of the Lady Tigers.
 
Current GAC Offensive Player of the Week, Sarah Williams, led the Lady Reddies in kills with 10. Junior outside hitter, Ty Lindberg, was just behind Williams with nine kills. Senior Lauren Ray paced the offense with 28 assists. Malorie Kelley led the team with 21 digs while Jessica Moss was a force at the net with nine total blocks (1 solo, 8 assist).