Box Score

PRAIRIE VIEW, Texas – Houston Baptist senior outside hitter Heather Leaverton recorded her fourth double-double of the season with 14 kills and 17 digs to lead the Huskies to a 3-1 (25-20, 25-21, 22-25, 25-21) victory over Prairie View A&M in non-conference volleyball Tuesday night at William Nicks Arena.
 
Junior middle blocker Caiti Wenger and sophomore outside hitter Bailey Keith had 10 kills each, while Keith added eight digs for the Huskies (6-2). Freshman outside hitter Haley Mueller added nine kills and eight digs, while senior setter Victoria Weatherly had 30 assists, three kills and two aces in three sets. Sophomore middle blocker Madeline Gaffney recorded nine kills and three blocks, and sophomore setter Haley Hoffman had nine assists and four digs. Sophomore libero Esther Longoria posted seven digs.
 
Breanna McNeil led Prairie View A&M (2-6) with 11 kill to go with five digs. Bruna Menezes had nine kills, and Rachel Owens had seven. Shanice Faison recorded 24 digs, and Monecia Preston added 12.
 
The Huskies hit .213 for the match, while holding the Panthers to .163. Prairie View A&M outdug HBU, 59-48, and outblocked the Huskies, 6-5.
 
HBU got off to a slow start, as Prairie View A&M scored six of the first seven points of the match, but the Huskies rebounded with a seven-point run to take an 8-6 lead. The Huskies extended their lead to four at 14-10, then to six at 20-14. HBU went on to close out the set, 24-20. Gaffney and Leaverton had four kills each to lead the Huskies.
 
The Huskies jumped out to an 8-3 lead in the second set, but the Panthers stayed within three points at 13-10. HBU then pushed its lead to 17-10 on a kill by Mueller, back-to-back kills by Keith and an attack error by Owens. Prairie View A&M once again cut the lead to three at 19-16, but could get no closer as HBU took a 2-0 lead with a 25-21 decision. Leaverton and Mueller had four kills each in the set.
 
Prairie View A&M took a 7-3 lead in the third set, but HBU trailed by two at 10-8. The Panthers then went ahead by seven at 18-11, until the Huskies four-straight points to cut the deficit to three. HBU got to within two five times, but Prairie View A&M held on for a 25-22 to take the third set. Wenger had five kills to lead the Huskies, while McNeil had four kills for the Panthers.
 
HBU took an 11-5 lead early in the fourth, but Prairie View A&M hung around to stay within four at 14-10. After the Huskies restored their lead to seven at 18-11, the Panthers rebounded to cut their deficit to two at 20-18. Prairie View A&M was still within two at 22-20, but the Huskies scored three of the last four points to clinch the match, 25-21.
 
The Huskies return to action at the Arkansas Invitational this weekend in Fayetteville, Ark., where they will face host Arkansas Friday at 7 p.m., followed by UTEP Saturday at 1:30 p.m., then Louisiana-Monroe at 4:30 p.m.