CONWAY, Arkanasas – After dropping the first two sets to fifth-seeded Central Arkansas, fourth-seeded HBU came out of the break and battled the host Sugar Bears toe-to-toe, but came up short in a 3-1 (22-25, 21-25, 29-27, 26-28) loss in the first round of the Southland Conference Volleyball Tournament Friday night at the Farris Center.
Junior outside hitter
Bailey Banks posted her 21
st double-double of the season, leading the Huskies (18-15) with 17 kills to go along with 13 digs. Senior outside hitter
Melissa Fuchs added 12 kills, nine digs and four blocks, and senior right side
Ashlee Vann had seven kills. Senior setter
Kayla Armer dished out 42 assists, while adding nine digs and four kills. She finishes her career as the Huskies' all-time assists leader with 5,070 and is the only Husky to ever reach 5,000. Junior middle blocker
Blair Gillard had 10 kills and with her five blocks, broke the Southland Conference single-season record for total blocks with 168. Junior libero
Hailey Erickson led the Huskies defensively with 22 digs, while sophomore defensive specialist
Rachel Angeles had 13.
Samantha Anderson hit .340 and led UCA (16-13) with 23 kills. Haley Tippett recorded a double-double with 13 kills and 14 digs, and Megan Nash had 11 kills and seven blocks. Elizabeth Armstrong handed out 54 assists and came up with seven digs. Amanda Dimon had 21 digs and Rayna Jefferis had 10.
The Sugar Bears outhit the Huskies, .212-.192, and outblocked them 9-8. HBU held a slight advantage in digs, 73-72.
HBU led 11-7 in the first after two kills by Armer, an ace by Gillard and a kill by Banks, but UCA answered to tie the set at 15. The set was still tied at 22, but the Sugar Bears scored the last three points, including a pair of kills by Tippett, to take the early lead.
After the Huskies scored the first three points of the second, the Sugar Bears scored 12 of the next 15 points. UCA used a four-point run to lead 18-10, then closed out the set 25-21.
The Huskies trailed 12-7 in the third, but ripped off six-straight points to take a one-point lead. HBU went up 23-18, but UCA answered with five-straight to tie. At 27-27, Banks slammed down a kill and an attack error kept the Huskies alive.
HBU scored the first four points of the fourth, but UCA responded to take an 8-6 lead. Neither team lead by more than two and the set was tied a 26-26 when Anderson got a kill and Nash and Armstrong blocked a Huskies attack for the 28-26 decision.
The Huskies graduate Armer, Fuchs and Vann, but will return all-conference selections Banks and Gillard. HBU also expects 2015 first-team all-conference outside hitter
Jessica Wooten to return next season after missing the entire year with an injury. Middle blockers
Megan Patillo and
Kayla Davenport also missed much of the season with injuries. The Huskies' top defenders return in Erickson and Angeles.
