ARKADELPHIA, Ark. – On the tail end of a back-to-back, Henderson State dropped a thriller to Northwestern Oklahoma State, 20-25, 25-29, 25-22, 16-25, 16-14. The loss marks the first five-set defeat to a conference opponent this season. The Reddies defeated Arkansas-Monticello 3-2 back on Sept. 30.
 
Christiane Uzoh led the team with 16 kills while Violeta Mendoza Quintana and Mya Robinson both claimed a double-double after each outside hitter registered one yesterday in the victory over Southwestern.
 
SET ONE
Henderson looked to still be riding the high from yesterday's thrilling match as the Reddies came out firing. After building an 18-10 lead, the Rangers made it a match as it slowly chipped away at the lead, cutting the deficit to four at 22-18.
 
The Reddies withheld the NWOSU spurt, taking the opening set, 25-20. Henderson hit a match-best .268 in the opening frame compared to the Rangers' .186.
 
SET TWO
It was an entire athletic-department effort on the part of the Rangers as its women's soccer team created NWOSU's own student section, cheering them on to a second-set victory, 25-19. Henderson never led in the second frame as the match stood at 1-1.  
 
SET THREE
With the visiting crowd now behind NWOSU, the lead remained on the side of the Rangers for the entire set once more. Outside of when the match was tied at 7-7, Northwestern put together a 7-1 run to claim all the momentum, winning set number three 25-22.
 
SET FOUR
With the Reddies in danger of dropping three straight sets, Phil McDaniel's squad came together to force a fifth set after building its biggest lead of the match at 22-14 before claiming the fourth-set victory, 25-16. In each set victory the Reddies saw, they out-hit the Rangers, this time besting NWOSU .174 to .058.
 
SET FIVE
With both sides of the crowd vying for the their team's fifth-set lives, points were alternated the entire way as, after the score read 3-1 in favor of the Rangers, neither team saw more than a one-point lead.
 
With NWOSU seeing match point at 14-13, Kaitlyn Sykes and Tyasia McGruder teamed up for the biggest block of the night, warding off match point for the time being. The Rangers did not allow that to deter them, however, as they claimed the next two points to take the final set, 16-14.
 
Henderson State (15-5, 4-3) hits the road for another GAC back-to-back when it takes on East Central in Ada, Oklahoma, Friday, Oct. 15 before heading to Durant, Oklahoma, to battle the Savage Storm of Southeastern Oklahoma State Saturday, Oct. 16.