MONTICELLO, Ark. - Behind 12 kills from
Courtney Bolf and 21 digs from
Sydney Skelton, the Henderson State volleyball team defeated Arkansas-Monticello on Tuesday night to win its first Great American Conference game of the season.
SET ONE: On its home court, the Blossoms got off to a good start, sprinting out to a 10-4 lead. Henderson responded with an 8-3 run of its own to cut the deficit down to 13-12. UAM stretched its lead back out to 16-13, but the Reddies took over control of the set from there, winning 12 of the next 15 points to take the first frame 25-19. Bolf had five kills in the period and
Zuzana Ondruskova had four for HSU.
SET TWO: The set was tight through the early-going, but with the score 16-14 in the Reddies favor, they made a big push, taking the next four points, all of which came on UAM attack errors, to seize a 20-14 lead. The Blossoms would not go away and won the next five to pull within 20-19, but Henderson was too much, as back-to-back kills from Ondruskova gave HSU some separation and two kills from Bolf finished UAM off, 25-22, giving HSU a 2-0 match lead. 15 of Henderson's points in the set came from Blossom' errors.
SET THREE: Leading 2-0 in the match on the road, Henderson wasted no time in the third set, racing out to a 14-5 lead on UAM. The Blossoms came back to win five of the next six, trimming the lead to 15-10, but the Reddies stretched the lead back out to 18-10 to put themselves on the verge of victory. UAM had no rally left in them, as six Blossom errors in HSU's final seven points sealed the set, 25-17 and the match 3-0 for Henderson.
Game Notes: Bolf had a game-high 12 kills for the Reddies and added 13 digs to notched a double-double. Ondruskova added nine kills, while
Adrianna Hartmann led the team with six blocks in the match. Setters
Danika Daum and
Sariah Boney combined for 29 assists, as Daum finished with 16 and Boney with 13. Skelton led Henderson defensively with 21 digs. The Reddies had an attacking percentage of .231 in the win and held UAM to a percentage of just .058. The Blossoms had twice as many attack errors (24) as HSU (11). The win moves Henderson to 7-6 on the year and 1-1 in GAC play.
Up Next: Henderson will play its first home match of the season on Thursday night at 6 p.m. against Southern Arkansas in the Duke Wells Center.
