OBU remains undefeated under Frizzell-Kizer after wild second day at Huntsville tournament

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — Ouachita Baptist went undefeated this weekend for the first time in the Alabama-Huntsville Classic, defeating West Georgia and Huntsville in a pair of fiveset thrillers on Saturday.

The Tigers (4-0) last won back-to-back five-set matches against Southern Arkansas and East Central over a four-day span during the 2014 season. This was the first time this decade the Tigers won back-toback five-setters in a tournament setting.

“It was a long day taking both games to five sets, but we fought through and finished on a high note,” said Ouachita volleyball coach Allison Frizzell-Kizer. “Those five set games can really test the character of a team, and we chose to rise up and ‘cross the line’ and take the wins.

“Tabatha Huckabee and Adrianna Nolly led our team offensively. And props to Alabama-Huntsville and West Georgia for their scrappiness on defense. Each teammate knew their job on and off the court, and that is how we were able to compete. I am beyond proud of how each player took grasp of their role.”

Nolly finished the weekend with 50 kills and 20 total blocks. Huckabee ended the weekend with 39 kills and 10 total blocks.

“Stormi Leonard was consistent and fed the ball to our hitters well in both games,” Frizzell-Kizer said.

Leonard finished the weekend with 146 assists. The senior is now 406 assists away from breaking the Great American Conference career assists record. She finished the day with a pair of double-doubles in assists and digs.

Julianna Mack and Nikki Clay finished first and second on the team in digs. Mack ended the weekend with 53, while Clay contributed 43 digs.

The Tigers came back from two sets down to win their third straight match of the 2018 season, 3-2, over West Georgia to start off play on Saturday. The last time Ouachita came back from a 2-0 deficit was on Oct.

17, 2014, against GAC foe East Central.

The last time Ouachita defeated West Georgia (2-1) was a 3-2 victory back in 2011. Frizzell-Kizer was a junior for the Tigers during the 2011 season.

West Georgia took the first set, 25-16, and the second set,

25-19. The third set was a backand-forth affair before Ouachita closed it out with an 8-4 run to keep the match alive with the

25-18 set.

Ouachita had its best set offensively in the fourth with a .304 hitting percentage. The Tigers produced double digit kills for the second time in the match. A pair of late Tiger runs made sure that the match would go the distance.

The Tigers had momentum on their side and won the final set,

15-8. Ouachita hit .278 in the final set, while West Georgia hit a match low .053.

Leonard finished the match with her first double-double of the season with 35 assists and 12 digs. Nolly led the team in kills, 13; blocks, six; and service aces, three. Mack tied for a team high 12 digs in the match.

Ouachita picked up its first victory against Huntsville (2-2) in four years with a 3-2 victory to end the tournament. The Tigers defeated the Chargers, 26-28, 25-23, 25-23, 27-29, 15-12.

The Tigers had 20 kills as a team in the opening frame. The teams traded sets with Ouachita taking the lead after three sets. Huntsville ended the fourth set on a 4-1 run to force a fifth.

The Chargers hit .435 in the fifth set and produced 11 kills, but the Tigers were victorious after multiple key runs. With the match tied at 12, the Chargers committed a hitting error to give the Tigers a one-point lead. Emily Low then put the match away with backto-back kills.

Leonard produced her second double-double of the day with 51 assists and 16 digs. Nolly once again led the team in kills with 20 and blocks with six.

Huckabee produced 18 kills in the match and Low added 11 kills. Mack finished with a career-high 28 digs and Clay added 24 digs.

The Frizzell-Kizer era began on Friday with a pair of sweeps against Auburn-Montgomery (1-2) and Lemoyne-Owen College

(0-2).

The Tigers finished the day with a .439 hitting percentage. Defensively, Ouachita held both Auburn-Montgomery and Lemoyne-Owen to a .000 hitting percentage. Ouachita’s opponents committed 42 errors on the day, while the Tigers produced just 10 errors.

“It was a good day to begin the season as we competed to together and finished strong in our matches,” Frizzell-Kizer said. “As a whole, I am pleased with our effort and attitude through both games. We got everyone on the court for some game time and every set we’re beginning to click more.”

Four Tigers ended the day with double digit kills. Nolly had a team-high in kills with 17 and eight blocks. Katie Camp (Plano, Texas) collected 13 kills and a team-high seven service aces. Paige Williams and Huckabee each contributed 12 kills.

Leonard recorded 60 assists between the two matches. Hannah Johnston led the team with 14 digs.

“I’m looking forward to tomorrow as we set a foundation today to build off of,” Frizzel-Kizer said at the end of the day.

Ouachita will be back in Arkadelphia this weekend for a joint invitational tournament with Henderson State. The Tigers are scheduled to play at 2 p.m. on Friday against Dallas Baptist and at 6 p.m. against Southwest Baptist. Ouachita will close the tournament on Saturday with a noon match against Mississippi College before facing Union University at 6 p.m.