Reddies take 13-match winning streak into Battle of the Ravine
ARKADELPHIA — Henderson State has won 13 matches in a row and Ouachita Baptist has lost back-to-back matches for only the second time this season as the two teams meet tonight in the first Battle of the Ravine of the season.
The Tigers (11-5, 2-2 Great American Conference) are riding a threematch winning streak against Henderson (14-2, 3-0) after sweeping a pair of five-set matches against Henderson in 2017. The match is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. at the Duke Wells Center with the rematch set for Oct. 23.
Henderson secured one of the program’s most significant wins of the last decade on Tuesday with a three-set road victory against Arkansas Tech (8-7, 2-2), 25-23, 25-22, 25-18, in Russellville. The win gave the Reddies their first 3-0 start in GAC play in program history.
It was just Henderson’s second win
against Arkansas Tech since
2007 and the program’s first sweep of the Golden Suns in Russellville since 2005. The
13-match winning streak is the program’s longest since 1993.
Sophomore setter Abby Blackburn collected her first double-double of the season with 15 assists and 10 digs. Freshman Taylor Scalzi also had 15 assists, giving her double-digit assists in 13 straight matches.
Junior Courtney Bolf had
13 digs and junior Gigi Garramone made 12. Junior Karlie Greene and Adrianna Hartmann both added six kills.
Harding (8-6, 3-0) upended Ouachita Baptist in five sets on Tuesday in Arkadelphia. The Tigers took a set lead midway through the match before falling, 25-13, 23-25, 19-25, 25-17,
15-11.
Junior Adrianna Nolly finished with at least 15 kills in a match for the sixth time this season. She also made six blocks and hit a team-leading
.263 in the match. Senior setter Stormi Leonard led the team in assists with
44. Sophomore libero Julianna Mack finished with 26 digs, two away from tying her career high and her fifth match with
20 or more.
Leonard has 583 assists this season and is averaging 9.88 assists per set. The is now 129 assists away from tying the career GAC mark of 4,142 assists.
Ouachita started off 9-0 and 1-0 in the GAC under firstyear head coach Allison Frizzell-Kizer. She spent the last four season at Lakeside.
Henderson last lost on Aug.
25 against Northwest Missouri State (11-3, 3-0 Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association) at the Washburn Invitational in Topeka, Kan. The Reddies have yet to drop a set against GAC competition.
Henderson leads the league in hitting percentage at .238 and opponent hitting percentage at .151. The Reddies also lead the GAC in total blocks at
134 and blocks per set at 2.48. Tonight’s matchup will feature three of the most prolific hitters in the GAC. Hartmann leads the conference in hitting percentage at .379 and Bolf is second in kills per set with 3.39. She has 173 kills for the season.
Greene has 61 blocks this season, averaging a GAC-best
1.2 per set. Garramone leads the team with 198 digs and Scalzi has a team-best 314 assists.
Nolly has 198 kills this season and is hitting .322. She tops the league in total blocks with
62.
Junior Katie Camp is second on the team with 142 kills, while junior Tabatha Huckabee and freshman Emily Low are close behind with 111 and 108, respectively. Sophomore Paige Williams needs six more kills to reach triple digits.
Mack leads the team with
245 digs. Redshirt freshman Hannah Johnson and sophomore Hannah Johnson have recorded 113 and 98, respectively. Senior Nikki Clay adds experience to the group and has dug out 83 balls this season.