PHOTOS

Henderson State's first appearance in the Great American Conference Volleyball Tournament was short-lived as Southern Nazarene beat the Reddies in straight sets in Hot Springs, Ark.

The Reddies 13-16 overall, were making their first-ever appearance in the GAC Tournament and first-postseason appearance since advancing to Gulf South Conference Tournament in 2010.

In the opening set, Southern Nazarene opened a 14-6 lead behind four kills by Lexie Matthews.

The Reddies responded and cut the deficit to 21-18 benefitting from a pair of SNU attack errors and kills by Kamra Jackson and Sharon Tukuaoga.

However five total blocks and a .233 attack percentage was too much for Henderson to overcome as the Storm won the set 25-18.

SNU, 18-10 on the year, jumped out to a 9-1 advantage in the second set as Abbey Bell had three service aces while McKayla Benner provided a pair of kills.

Tukuaoga briefly stopped the bleeding with her fourth kill of the match, but the Crimson Storm would rattle off five straight points in building a 15-5 advantage.

Henderson again fought back, but the deficit was too much to overcome as the Storm won 25-17.

Henderson took a 7-0 lead in the third set as Jackson provided a pair of service aces while Tukuaoga, Gabby Ginapp and Courtney Arhns would all have kills during the early run.

SNU would slowly cut into the Reddies lead as Courtney Bowie put together five attack winners for the Crimson Storm with the Reddies committing four attack errors.

With the score tied at 22-22, Jackson would give the Reddies the lead again with her fifth kill of the match.

However, SNU would score the next three points to win the match and advance to the semifinals.

Tukuaoga finished the match with 11 kills, while Adrianna Hartmann had 6 attack winners and a .417 attack percentage.

Sydney Skelton had 18 defensive digs with Haley Higgins compiling 18 set assists.

The Reddies finished with a team attack percentage of .125 compared to .252 for Southern Nazarene.