HOUSTON – After dropping the first set, HBU overcame its slow start to rally for a 3-1 (24-26, 25-22, 25-18, 25-22) victory over Northwestern State in Southland Conference volleyball Thursday night at Sharp Gym.
Junior outside hitter
Bailey Banks led the Huskies (12-8, 3-1 SLC) with 17 kills and added 14 kills for her 13
th double-double, while senior right side
Ashlee Vann had 13 kills and four blocks. Senior outside hitter
Melissa Fuchs added 12 kills, while junior middle blocker
Blair Gillard had five kills and 11 blocks, the second-most in a four-set match in school history since the current scoring format was adopted in 2008. Senior setter
Kayla Armer had a sensational all-around match, pacing HBU with 42 assists, five kills, 17 digs and seven blocks. Junior libero
Hailey Erickson recorded a match-high 19 digs, while sophomore defensive specialist
Rachel Angeles added 13.
Alexis Warren had a double-double for the Lady Demons (9-12, 4-2) with 13 kills and 16 digs. Kourtney Seaton had 11 kills and seven blocks, while Natalie Jaeger dished out 40 assists and came up with nine digs. Channing Burleson led NSU with 18 digs, while Megan Lohmiller had 10.
The Huskies hit .157 for the match, while holding the Lady Demons to .087. HBU outdug NSU, 74-72, and outblocked them, 15.5-11.
In the first set, the Lady Demons scored five of the first six points, then jumped out to a 10-3 lead. HBU stormed back by scoring the next six points – which included three blocks by Gillard and Armer – to get to with one, but NSU later answered with a five-point spurt to go back up, 17-10. Trailing 20-14, the Huskies scored seven of the next eight points to tie the set, 21-21, on an ace by Angeles. HBU tooks its first lead of the set at 24-23, but NSU scored the final three points to take the opening frame, 26-24.
HBU scored the first three points of the second set, but NSU quickly tied it up at 6-6. The Huskies then had a 15 points stretch during which they only had one kills, but only trailed 14-10. HBU came alive with an 8-0 run, which featured another Gillard-Armer stuff and a pair of kills by Fuchs to give the Huskies an 18-14 lead. Down the stretch, HBU got two more blocks from Gillard and Armer and two kills each by Fuchs and Vann to even the match with a 25-22 decision.
Banks got going in the third set, getting kills on three of the first five points, while the Huskies took an 8-2 lead. The Lady Demons rebounded and scored five in a row to lead 11-10, but a kill by Armer and two by Banks got the Huskies back on track. The set as tied, 14-14, when HBU got two kills by Vann and one by Gillard during a five-point burst. Banks had two more kills, one on the deciding point, to finish the set with eight kills and give the Huskies a 25-18 win.
The Lady Demons led 7-3 in the early going of the fourth, but the Huskies scored five of six to tie it, 8-8. Back-to-back kills by Banks and Fuchs broke a tie and started a five-point run to give HBU a 17-12 lead. After NSU got back within three, HBU scored four-straight sparked by a kill and a block by Gillard, to open up a seven-point advantage. Banks got the Huskies to set point at 24-19, but the Lady Demons would not go quietly, as they scored three in a row to get to within two, before Banks put them away for the 25-22 final tally.
The Huskies return to action when they host Central Arkansas Saturday at 1 p.m., followed by Abilene Christian Monday at 7 p.m. , both in Sharp.
