CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – Senior outside hitters
Jessica Wooten and
Bailey Banks each recorded a double-double as fourth-seeded HBU blanked fifth-seeded Northwestern State, 3-0 (27-25, 25-21, 25-21) in the quarterfinals of the Southland Conference Volleyball Tournament Friday afternoon at Dugan Wellness Center.
The Huskies (21-9) are now 11-2 this season when Wooten and Banks post double-doubles in the same match. Wooten led the way with 12 kills and 16 digs, with Banks adding 10 kills, 11 digs and three blocks. Senior middle blocker
Blair Gillard had seven kill and three blocks, redshirt freshman right side
Megan Patillo had five kills and three blocks and junior middle blocker
Kayla Davenport chipped in with four kills and four blocks. Junior setter
Madison O'Brien dished out 29 assists with seven digs and a pair of kills. Senior libero
Hailey Erickson had 11 digs, sophomore defensive specialist
Hannah Lewis came up with eight and each served up an ace.
Reagan Rogers led the Lady Demons (15-17) with 17 kills and nine digs. Alexis Warren had seven kills and Madeline Drake had five kills and four blocks, but SLC Freshman of the Year Hannah Brister was held to four kills and four errors. Kathryn Wristen had 29 assists, Channing Burleson had 13 digs and Megan Lohmiller had 12 digs.
The Huskies hit .204 for the match, while limiting the Lady Demons to a .111 attack percentage. HBU also held the advantage in digs, 56-52, and blocks, 9-5, while each team had three aces.
NSU scored the first three points of the match and led, 9-7, but HBU reeled off five-straight points to jump ahead by three. The Huskies still led by three at 15-12, but the Lady Demons scored four in a row to regain a one-point edge. HBU answered with a four-point run of its own to lead 20-18 and force an NSU timeout. The Huskies gave up three-straight points to trail by one, but once again came back with three of their own to get to set point at 24-22. NSU would not go quietly, scoring the next three to have a chance at set point. Wooten tied it with a kill, NSU was called for a ball handling error, then Gillard and Wooten teamed up for a block to claim a 27-25 victory in the opening frame.
The Lady Demons once again jumped out to a lead in the second at 9-6, but the Huskies quickly knotted it up at 10. Over the next 22 points, neither side would go up by more than two points and the set was tied at 21-21 after a kill by Banks. HBU then scored the final four points of the set on an attack error by Rogers, a kill by O'Brien, a block by Davenport and Banks and a kill by Wooten to put away the 25-21 decision.
HBU scored the first three points in the third and led by four at 7-3. NSU put together a four-point spurt to tie it and after an HBU sideout, scored back-to-back points on a Lohmiller ace and a block by Brister and Drake to lead 16-14. The Huskies answered by ripping off the next six points to go up 20-16. The Lady Demons hung around by scoring the next two, but a kill by Gillard, a solo block by Banks and an error by Brister made the score 23-18. A kill by Davenport got the Huskies to 24-19 and the Lady Demons fought off two set points, before Banks slammed the door with a kill for a 25-21 win.
HBU faces eighth-seeded Abilene Christian in the first semifinal Saturday at 11 a.m. The Wildcats made SLC Tournament history by becoming the first No. 8 seed to defeat a No. 1 seed when they knocked off Stephen F. Austin in five sets Friday morning.
