HOUSTON – HBU sophomore outside hitter
Jessica Wooten, senior outside hitter
Megan McStravick and sophomore setter
Kayla Armer each posted a double-double, but the Huskies dropped their season-opener to Northern Arizona on the first day of the Marriott Houston Westchase Invitational Friday at Sharp Gym.
Wooten had a match-high of 15 kills, along with 12 digs, while McStravick recorded 11 kills and a match high of 24 digs. Armer recorded 36 assists and 12 digs. Senior libero
Haley Hoffman had 18 digs, while sophomore defensive specialist
Beth Shecterle had 13. Junior middle blocker
Allison Doerpinghaus made her HBU debut and had five kills and five blocks for the Huskies (0-1).
Janae Vander Ploeg led Northern Arizona with 12 kills and 20 digs. Sydney Kemper recorded 10 kills, along with 15 digs for the Lumberjacks. Jensen Barton led her team with 36 assists to go with her 13 digs. Stacia Williams had 15 digs for NAU.
In the first set, the Huskies gave up five straight points to trail 14-8. The Lumberjacks extended their lead by eight to lead 19-11 and led by as many as nine before closing out the set 25-17.
The Huskies led the second set 7-6 over NAU and managed to keep their lead 11-6. The Huskies outscored the Lumberjacks 7-4 to push their lead to 18-10. NAU stormed back and cut the lead to one at 21-20, but Wooten had a pair of kills down the stretch as the Huskies tied the match to a 25-21 win.
HBU trailed Northern Arizona 16-11 in the third set, but cut the Lumberjack's lead to 16-15 by scoring four straight points. It remained a one-point set at 19-18, but NAU scored five straight and won the set 25-19. In the final set, NAU scored the first six points, but HBU made a comeback to make it 11-7. The Lumberjacks responded and led 19-10 before taking the match 25-14.
The Lumberjacks outhit the Huskies 45-41. HBU outdug Northern Arizona 88-83. Both teams tied with nine blocks each.
In the first match, Tulsa defeated Chattanooga 3-1. Action continues Saturday with HBU facing Tulsa at 10 a.m., followed by NAU and UTC at noon. The tournament concludes with NAU against Tulsa at 5 p.m., followed by HBU versus UTC at 7 p.m.
