NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Henderson State Volleyball finished off the Ray Thrasher Tournament, hosted by Trevecca Nazarene, with two tough matches. Falling to the University of Alabama, Huntsville, 3-1, and capturing their first win of the 2025 season against Erskine College after going the full 5 sets, winning 3-2.

The Reddies showed strong offense even in the loss, with Senior Katilyn Steffes logging 33 total kills across the two matches, quickly followed by Kelis Battles and Cassidi Campbell who had 26 and 16 kills respectively. Tyhia Mack and Jessie Jerome recorded 40 and 33 assists as well. Defensively, All-RTC Tournament team selection Kaylon Partain recorded 52 total digs across today's matches, while Meadow Jones led the team in total blocks with 12.

"Happy to get our first win of the season," said coach Phil McDaniel, "We have a lot to build on the next couple weeks."

HSU vs. UAH
The Reddies fought a hard first match, with UAH holding the lead for most of it, but a late surge by Henderson forced extra points; HSU narrowly lost 32-30. In the second set, the Chargers wouldn't give the Reddies a chance to tie it up and maintained a distant lead and won 25-16. In the third set, it was much closer, with the Reddies pulling off several runs to maintain the lead and were able to close out a win 25-21. Unfortunately, that is where the comeback ended, while the Reddies kept it close, they were unable to salvage a comeback and lost 25-21.

HSU vs. Erskine
Henderson State kicked off their last match of the tournament strong, holding the lead the majority of the first set, pulling ahead with a 4-0 run and forcing an Erskine timeout. The Reddies continued to push, with Freshman Kelis Battles and Senior Katilyn Steffes contributing significantly as they pulled ahead to a 16-9 lead, forcing the Flying Fleet to take another timeout. They couldn't stop the Reddies, and they came out on top 25-22.

In the second set, the Reddies continued to push ahead, securing an early 4-2 lead. While Erskine tried to come back, getting within a point, Henderson went on a 4-0 run to a score of 10-5. Another swift 3-0 run forced an Erskine timeout, and it wasn't enough as only a few points later, the Flying Fleet took another timeout, with the score being 16-9. From there, the Reddies prevented any strong comebacks and secured a strong 25-15 win.

The third set didn't go as well for the Reddies, as Erskine took the lead, but two kills from Skye Johns brought the score to 5-4. It seemed the Flying Fleet were going to pull away but Kelis Battles secured two points to bring it to 10-7. Erskine continued to hold the lead, and a late attempt by the Reddies to catch up fell flat, as they lost the third set 25-18.

The fourth set was a difficult one, as Erskine opened with a 3-0 run that put them in the lead. While Henderson attempted to keep up, they were unable to pull any closer than a point behind, and another 5-0 run pushed Erskine further ahead, forcing a Henderson timeout. The Flying fleet maintained a strong lead for most of the set, leading to a 20-12 score. The Reddies did attempt a comeback, a fast 4-0 run forced an Erskine timeout, it wasn't enough and the Reddies fell in the fourth set 25-21.

The final set began with a dominant surge from the Reddies, as Katilyn Steffes contributed two kills to put Henderson up 4-1. A kill from Cassidi Campbell led to an Erskine timeout, as the Reddies held a 6-2 lead. Another quick 3-0 run led to the second timeout taken by ERS, as Henderson led 10-4. The Reddies were able to keep that momentum and captured their first win after wrapping up the fifth set 15-7.

Up Next –
The Reddies return home to host the Reddie-Tiger Invitational, with their first match against St. Edward's at the Duke Wells Center on September 12th at 11:00 AM.