HAMMOND, Louisiana – Senior outside hitter
Bailey Banks led HBU with 16 kills, giving her 1,011 for her career to become the 10
th Husky to reach 1,000, in a 3-0 (25-22, 25-11, 25-22) sweep over Southeastern Louisiana in Southland Conference volleyball Thursday night at the University Center.
Banks hit .333 and also came up with 16 digs for her 10
th double-double of the season to get within 71 digs of joining teammate and fellow senior outside hitter
Jessica Wooten in HBU's elite 1,000 kill-1,000 dig club. Wooten added 12 kills, with only one error, and tallied her 11
th double-double of the season with 13 digs to go along with five blocks and four aces. Senior middle blocker
Blair Gillard tied HBU's three-set match record with nine blocks and had four kills, with junior middle blocker
Kayla Davenport posting six errorless kills and four stuffs. Junior setter
Madison O'Brien handed out 35 assists with nine digs and five kills for the Huskies (13-5, 5-1 SLC), who have swept three-straight matches. Senior libero
Hailey Erickson led HBU defensively with 22 digs and sophomore defensive specialist
Hannah Lewis had eight and an ace.
Jodi Edo and Elyssa Purcell had seven kills each for SLU (2-17, 0-5), while Alli Capps and Savannah Alcazar had five apiece. Lexie Torres had 20 digs for the Lady Lions and Alcazar contributed 18.
HBU hit .267 and stifled SLU to a .105 clip. Behind Gillard, the Huskies dominated at the net with 13 blocks, while the Lady Lions failed to record a block. HBU also outdug SLU, 76-70, and had five aces to the Lady Lions' two.
The Huskies trailed, 5-2, early in the first set, but scored four in a row to take a one-point lead. HBU led by two at 14-12, but SLU scored five-straight points on a pair of kills by Purcell and one by Alcazar to lead by three. HBU answered with the next four to go back up by one, then SLU scored back-to-back points to reclaim the advantage at 20-19. A block by Gillard and O'Brien sparked a four-point surge that helped the Huskies close out the set on kill by Banks, 25-22.
HBU led 6-4 in the second, then ripped off a 10-point run behind the serving of Wooten to lead 16-4. Wooten had a pair of aces, Banks had a pair of kills, the first of which put her at 1,000, and Gillard had a pair of blocks. The Huskies extended the lead to 16 at 23-7 on a kill by redshirt freshman right side
Ashtyn Richey and a kill by Gillard sent HBU to the locker room with a 25-11 victory and 2-0 set lead.
An ace by Lewis tied the third set at six apiece, then another Gillard block gave the Huskies their first lead of the set. After the two sides traded points, the Lady Lions got back-to-back kills from Capps during a four-point spurt to lead 11-8. SLU still held the lead at 16-14, but Wooten found the floor with a kill, assisted on a kill by O'Brien to tie it, then served up another ace to take the lead. After a timeout by SLU, Banks came out of the break with a pair of kills to extend HBU's lead to three, but SLU scored the next three to tie the set, 19-19. The Huskies went up by three after a kill by O'Brien, an attack error by the Lady Lions and a block by Davenport and Richey, but SLU scored the next two to cut HBU's lead to one and force a timeout. A kill by Banks put the Huskies at set point, then Wooten put it away for a 25-22 decision.
The Huskies finish of their road trip against New Orleans Saturday at noon at the Human Performance Center in New Orleans, Louisiana.
