ARKADELPHIA, Ark. — Henderson State will travel to the Sooner State for the second and final time this season when the Reddies take on the Northwestern Oklahoma State Rangers and the Southwestern Oklahoma State Bulldogs on Friday and Saturday.
Henderson State (15-9, 6-3) had its winning streak put to the test on Tuesday evening when the Reddies fell behind 2-0 to Christian Brothers in Memphis. Despite the two-set deficit, an unfazed HSU squad battled back to shock the Lady Bucs in a 3-2 victory (21-25, 20-25, 25-18, 25-19, 15-10), which gave them their seventh-straight win.
Double-doubles from Courtney Bolf and Sabrina Show led the Reddies back from the brink against CBU, while Henderson's stingy defensive play held the Lady Bucs to a negative attacking percentage in the fifth and final set.
The Reddies will have an even tougher test on Friday and Saturday against two teams fighting for a regular season Great American Conference Championship. Despite a 2-3 start in conference play, HSU also remains in championship contention after four-consecutive GAC victories. With six teams, including Henderson, tied at 6-3 in the conference standings, the Reddies could sit atop the GAC standings, or fall to eighth by the end of the weekend.
Bolf had a game-high 22 kills against Christian Brothers and leads the league with 3.75 kills per set in conference matches. Adrianna Hartmann added five block assists and is tops in the conference with 48 total blocks in GAC contests.
Northwestern Oklahoma State | (16-9, 6-3) | T-3rd in GAC | Oct. 25 | 6 p.m.
Despite a non-conference setback to Colorado State University-Pueblo on Tuesday, the Rangers remain one of the toughest defensive teams in the GAC. The Rangers allow the third-fewest kills per set in the conference and are led by the trio of Alexi Beach, Jennifer Eubanks and Kiauna Clark who rank third, sixth, and seventh in the league in blocks, respectively. Eubanks, a Second Team All-GAC honoree in 2018, also ranks Top-10 in the league with a 30.3% attacking percentage. The Reddies have won the last three meetings in the series including a 3-0 victory last year in Arkadelphia.
Southwestern Oklahoma State | (11-9, 7-2) | 2nd in GAC | Oct. 26 | 1 p.m.
After a rocky non-conference start to the season, the Bulldogs have won five-consecutive conference matches, including road wins over GAC powers Harding and Arkansas Tech. SWOSU is led by reigning GAC Defensive Player of the Year Kaitlyn Dillon and 2018 Second Team All-GAC selection Sofia Gruden. The Bulldogs have also leaned on the play of Allie Hoang, who is second in GAC matches with 11.04 assists per set. Henderson took down Southwestern 3-1 in the GAC Tournament semifinals last season. The dramatic victory marked the first win for the Reddies over SWOSU since 2005. The Bulldogs were the tabbed as the preseason favorite in the 2019 GAC Coaches Poll at the start of the year.
HSU Statistical Leaders:
Senior, Courtney Bolf – 252 Kills
Junior, Abby Blackburn – 454 Assists
Sophomore, MaKenzie Thoman – 400 Digs
Senior, Adrianna Hartmann – 88 Blocks
NWOSU Statistical Leaders:
Sophomore, Kaydee Honeycutt – 259 Kills
Junior, Kaitlyn Robinson – 722 Assists
Junior, Sydnee Miller – 449 Digs
Senior, Jennifer Eubanks – 108 Blocks
SWOSU Statistical Leaders:
Freshman, Maicee Morgan – 242 Kills
Junior, Allie Hoang – 613 Assists
Senior, Kaitlyn Dillon – 384 Digs
Senior, Sofia Gruden – 57 Blocks
Henderson State Milestone Watch
- Six more block assists for Adrianna Hartmann would move her past Jennifer Griffin for second on HSU's all-time list. Hartmann needs seven total blocks to pass Patrice Rush for third all-time as a Reddie.
- Courtney Bolf needs 33 digs to become the seventh player in HSU history with 1500 career digs. She also needs four aces to tie Karla Harr for eighth in program history.
