ARKADELPHIA, Ark, - Henderson State's Makenzie Thoman claimed her 1000th dig of her HSU career and freshman Andrea Roland saw her first action as a Reddie as she accounted for five kills on a .273 hitting percentage as the visiting Reddies fell to Ouachita Baptist, 3-1. 
 
The Reddies as a team produced a hitting percentage of .097 compared to .121 from the Tigers of Ouachita Baptist as they saw 42 kills to OBU's 49. The defense of the host Tigers proved to be the defining factor as OBU registered 12 total blocks to HSU's nine.
 
SET ONE
Henderson State raced out to a 7-2 lead before Ouachita Baptist called an early timeout. That timeout did little help as HSU continued with a 4-1 run to take an 11-3 lead. Another timeout came from the Tigers' bench as a 19-9 deficit stared the home team in the face.
 
Stout defense forced an error-prone OBU into six attack errors, allowing the Reddies to cruise to a first set win, capitalized by Kaitlyn Sykes' lone kill of the opening frame, giving Henderson the early 1-0 lead, 25-11, marking the largest margin of victory in a single set HSU has seen on the season. The Reddies carried a .276 hitting percentage through the first stint.
 
SET TWO
OBU did not give in, however, as a 7-1 onslaught to start the second set from the Tigers resulted in the Reddies' first called timeout of the game. Unlike OBU's first called timeout, this pause in gameplay proved fruitful as HSU went on a 10-1 run to build a three point advantage, 11-8, when the Tigers, in danger of letting the second set get away, decided they needed to talk things over.
 
With neither team relenting, and with the game tight at 19-16 in favor of Ouachita, Makenzie Thoman came through with her ninth dig of the contest, giving her 1000 digs for her Henderson career. Still, Ouachita Baptist kept pounding away.
 
The Reddies did everything they could to climb back from three straight set points as OBU held a 24-20 lead. Henderson State could not quite overcome a raucous Ouachita Baptist home crowd, however, as OBU used 16 kills in the set to tie everything up at one (1) a piece. HSU got as close as 24-23 before OBU delivered the last punch to close out the set, 25-23.
 
SET THREE
Six attack errors early on for HSU forced head coach Phil McDaniel into giving his team a breather as OBU held a 13-9 lead. The Tigers managed to outscore the Reddies 12-10 the rest of the way as Ouachita now held a 2-1 set lead. OBU had seemed to flip a switch.
 
Henderson State did not do itself any favors that set, being responsible for 11 attack errors, more than the first two sets combined. HSU also only accumulated eight kills to OBU's 12.
 
SET FOUR
Neither team saw more than a two-point lead halfway through the potential final set as each team had registered seven kills and four attack errors with OBU leading 13-12. The Tigers broke the two-point barrier at 16-13. That three-point lead stayed with Ouachita as it stood six points away from taking the match, 19-16.
 
After an HSU timeout, the Reddies' best effort at an attempt to push the match to a fifth set was too late as OBU refused to look back, taking the final set 25-20 and the overall match, 3-1.
 
Henderson State, now 1-3, will have two days off before returning home to take on Arkansas-Monticello inside the Duke Wells Center Friday, Feb. 26 at 6:30 p.m.