HSU, OBU roll to straight-set home victories

ARKADELPHIA — Henderson State increased its winning streak to 10 matches Tuesday, while Ouachita Baptist remained perfect in the Great American Conference as both teams won in straight sets.

Courtney Bolf recorded her sixth double-double of the season and Taylor Scalzi dished out more than 20 assists for the seventh time in eight contests as the Reddies (11-2, 1-0) won their conference opener, 25-17, 25-16, 25-16, against Arkansas-Monticello (1-13, 0-2). The

10-match winning streak is their longest since

2006, when Henderson was a member of the Gulf South Conference.

Karlie Greene, Adrianna Hartmann and Zuzana Ondruskova each contributed seven kills, while Kenzie Thoman notched nine digs.

Ouachita (11-3, 2-0) got off to a hot start en route to a 25-23, 25-17, 25-19 victory Tuesday at home against Southern Arkansas (3-9, 0-2). The Tigers opened conference play on Sept. 4 with a three-set victory against Monticello.

“Overall, we won in three and we finished

when we needed to finish,” said Ouachita head coach Allison Frizzell-Kizer. “We finished plays when we needed too, we blocked when we needed too and because of that we are now 2-0 in conference play.”

It was the seventh match in a row in which Southern Arkansas failed to win a set.

Ouachita was 1-3 in the Newman University Jet Classic Thursday, Friday and Saturday in Wichita, Kansas.

“A five-game week is stressful on the mind, on the legs and on the arms, but we came in and we refocused on the new week and trying to win every match,” said Frizzell-Kizer.

Ouachita setter Stormi Leonard made 33 assists in the victory. Paige Williams tied with Adrianna Nolly for the team lead in kills with nine. Katie Camp collected six kills after making the All-Tournament Team in Kansas.

“I think Stormi [Leonard] is doing a great job of spreading the ball around at the net,” Frizzell-Kizer said. “Paige came out and hit well for us, to have nine kills from an outside hitter is exceptional for us.”

Julianna Mack led the team with 22 digs. Hannah Johnson finished two digs away from double digits.

Ouachita will face preseason GAC favorite Arkansas Tech (7-6, 1-1) at 6 p.m. in Russellville. It is the first road match of the conference schedule for the Tigers.

“I told them in the locker room to enjoy the win tonight and tomorrow we will regain our focus on Arkansas Tech,” Frizzell-Kizer said. “It’s good to celebrate the wins, but to move on, we need to work on the things that were exploited tonight. We are very excited about being 2-0 in conference and we are working to get better each and every day.”

Henderson travels to Magnolia to face Southern Arkansas at 6 p.m. tonight before a road match against Arkansas Tech on Tuesday.