ARKADELPHIA, Ark. – Reddies volleyball clinched its second straight appearance in the Great American Conference tournament with a dominant 3-0 (25-17, 25-12, 25-20) victory over Southern Arkansas. 

Henderson State (18-11, 9-5) has now won 10 of its last 12 matches and needs just two wins to secure back-to-back 20 win seasons for the first time since the 2000-2001 seasons. 

Taylor Scalzi, who recently collected her 1,000th assist, and Abby Blackburn, who became the ninth player in HSU history to tally 1,500 career assists, combined for 27 helpers on the evening. Sabrina Show led the Reddies with 11 kills while sophomores Tyasia McGruder and Alex Tyler combined for 11 kills and an impressive 47.6% attacking percentage.

The Reddies take a brief break from conference play when they welcome Division I Texas Southern to the Duke Wells Center on Nov. 10 at 2 p.m. 

SET ONE
Although the first point of the match went to the Muleriders, HSU was quick to set the tempo as kills from Tyler, Show, and two aces from Courtney Bolf sent the Reddies in front 7-1. SAU took four of the next five points to cut Henderson's lead to three, 8-5, but the Reddies ripped off an 8-1 run to give themselves a comfortable 16-6 lead. A timeout from the Southern Arkansas bench helped the Muleriders regroup and cut the HSU lead to six, 18-12, but SAU got no closer, as the Reddies took the first set comfortably, 25-17. 

SET TWO
The storyline remained the same in the second set as SAU took the opening point before a 7-0 run put Henderson State in control, 7-1. Once again, a lightning quick spurt from Southern Arkansas cut HSU's lead in half, 7-4, but Henderson had the answer in the form of a 10-4 run to push in front 17-8. With the score 20-12, the Reddies closed the second set in style, as a 5-0 run gave HSU a commanding 2-0 lead, 25-12. 

SET THREE
Desperate to avoid the three-set sweep, Southern Arkansas came out swinging in the third frame. The Muleriders kept the Reddies off-balance early, keeping HSU from consecutive points while building a modest 6-4 lead. Trailing by two, HSU got back on track with a kill from Tyasia McGruder and an ace from Adrianna Hartmann that helped give Henderson its first lead of the set, 7-6. From there, the lead changed hands four times until an SAU kill tied the set at 14-14. With the direction of the set hanging in the balance, Blackburn and Show combined to give the Reddies a 15-14 lead that they would not relinquish, as Henderson State held on to sweep Southern Arkansas 25-20.