ESPN3 Replay
CONWAY, Ark. – The sixth-seeded HBU volleyball team closed their season on Sunday afternoon, falling 3-1 (21-25, 19-25, 25-20, 17-25) to top-seeded Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in the championship match of the 2015 Southland Conference Tournament inside Farris Center on the campus of Central Arkansas.
The Huskies finish the season with a 17-17 record, as the match marked the final appearance of senior middle blocker
Allison Doerpinghaus in an HBU uniform. Doerpinghaus turned in seven blocks and six kills against TAMU-CC (31-6).
Junior outside hitter
Jessica Wooten led HBU, recording her team-leading 16th double-double and third straight of the tournament with a 14-dig, 14-kill showing. Sophomore middle blocker
Blair Gillard joined Wooten with a double-figure kill performance, finishing with 12. For their efforts over HBU's three matches, the two garnered SLC All-Tournament honors.
Junior libero
Melissa Fuchs led the Huskies on the back row with 18 digs, while sophomore outside hitter
Bailey Banks followed with 15. Junior setter
Kayla Armer picked up 41 assists across the four-set match.
Both teams went back and forth in the opening set, but the Islanders limited HBU to a .026 hitting percentage in taking a 25-21 victory before following with a 25-19 win in set two to lead 2-0 at the break.
The Huskies responded in the third set, limiting TAMU-CC to its lowest offensive efficiency of the match at a .114 clip to take a 25-20 decision and extend the match to a fourth set. HBU's set win marked the first result taken from the Islanders in the tournament, ending a streak that spanned 10 straight sets dating back to the final match of the regular season.
Gillard and Wooten each turned in four kills, but TAMU-CC outhit the Huskies .310-.172 to take the match 25-17 in set four and earn the league's automatic bid the 2015 NCAA Volleyball Championship.
Postgame Quotes – Head Coach Trent Herman
On play during the tournament…
"First of all, Tony (Graystone) and A&M-Corpus Christi. They played an excellent match and had a great season. We tried to do something to get them rattled.
"The team fought the entire tournament and put it all together at the end of the season. I can't ask for anything else from them, they kept it going."
On senior middle blocker Allison Doerpinghaus…
"We're going to miss Allison. She was our lone senior. She was the funny, inspirational kind of player for us. She's a great kid and we're going to miss her. She is what a true student-athlete is."
