MAGNOLIA, Arkansas – Henderson State saw its most complete match of the season after posting its first sweep of the year against Southern Arkansas Tuesday evening at W.T. Watson Athletic Center, 3-0 (25-22, 25-23, 25-23). Kaitlyn Sikes had her best hitting performance of her season with a .636 percentage for seven kills on 11 total attacks. Bree Sanders had herself five kills on 10 total attacks for a hitting percentage of .455.
 
Violeta Mendoza Quintana had a game-high nine kills with Mya Robinson registering seven. Abby Blackburn delivered 22 set assists in the victory. Henderson State as a team boasted nine aces – five from Mendoza Quintana – compared to zero for Southern Arkansas with.
 
SET ONE
Southern Arkansas sprinted out to a 4-0 lead right out of the gate. Henderson State was kept at bay about halfway through the set until, when SAU held a 13-8 lead, five straight points from the Reddies, including back-to-back aces from Mendoza Quintana, knotted the game up 13-13.
 
From there, HSU slowly built its lead the rest of the way until it claimed the 25-22 first-set win. Brittany Barnekoff had four of her six total kills in the opening frame.
 
SET TWO
Henderson took the early lead 4-3 and then did not see a lead again until it mattered. With the Muleriders up 19-16, Henderson State head coach Phil McDaniel called a timeout that would prove worthwhile. Out of the break, HSU went on a 7-1 run to take a 23-20 lead. HSU would go on to claim the 25-23 second-set win, bringing the Reddies one set closer to its first match sweep of the season.
 
Despite SAU seeing 15 kills to HSU's 12 kills and both squads having six attack errors, four aces from Henderson was the biggest difference, along with SAU having two service errors.
 
SET THREE
With four lead changes occurring within the first 21 total points, it appeared that this would be the set that would go Southern Arkansas' way. With SAU up 16-12 and four straight Henderson points, however, showed the writing on the wall for the Muleriders. At 16-16, with five more score ties in the match between then and 21-21, HSU was able to put a couple points in succession together, taking the set 25-23.
 
For the first time through each of the three sets, Southern Arkansas did not out-hit the Reddies, as each team tallied a hitting percentage of .243. Additionally, two more service aces for HSU plus nine total errors from Southern Arkansas - seven attack errors and two service errors – changed the outcome of the match.