HOUSTON – HBU senior outside hitter
Bailey Banks broke the school's three-set, single-match record with 21 kills to lead the Huskies to a sweep of Stephen F. Austin, 3-0 (25-23, 25-21, 25-23), in Southland Conference volleyball Saturday afternoon at Sharp Gym.
Banks also had nine digs and three assists as she eclipsed the old mark of 20 kills set by teammate, senior outside hitter
Jessica Wooten at Incarnate Word on Oct. 18, 2014. Wooten recorded nine kills on Saturday and led HBU (12-5, 4-1 SLC) with 14 digs. Redshirt freshman right side
Ashtyn Richey hit .692 with 10 kills and only one error on 13 attempts and freshman setter
Abby Gargus racked up 42 assists, 12 digs and had five kills. Junior middle blocker
Kayla Davenport had six kills without an error and senior middle blocker
Blair Gillard posted five blocks. Senior libero
Hailey Erickson had 12 digs and three assists and sophomore defensive specialist
Hannah Lewis had 10 digs, three assists and a critical ace.
Haley Coleman hit .387 with 13 kills and one error on 31 attempts and eight digs for SFA (14-5, 2-1). Danae Daron added seven kills and Peyton Redmond had six kills and nine digs for the Ladyjacks. Ann Hollas handed out 29 assists and Lexus Cain came up with a match-high 18 digs.
The Huskies hit .296 for the match, while the Ladyjacks hit .246. HBU held a sizeable advantage in digs, 66-56, but SFA edged the Huskies in blocks, 6-5, and aces, 4-3.
Banks had eight kills as HBU hit .350 in the first set, while SFA nearly kept pace, hitting .344. The two teams had been within one point of each other since 7-6 until an ace by Lewis put the Huskies up by two at 19-17. The Ladyjacks answered to tie the set, 19-19, but a block by Gillard and Gargus gave HBU the lead. After an SFA sideout knotted the score again, kills by Banks and Gargus put HBU ahead by two. A kill by Banks got the Huskies to set point, but the Ladyjacks got a kill from Daron to get within one at 24-23. Richey put the set away with a kill for the narrow 25-23 decision.
HBU jumped out to an 8-4 lead in the second and later scored three-straight on kills by Richey, Wooten and Gargus to extend the lead to 18-12 and force an SFA timeout. The Ladyjacks bounced back out of the break, scoring si of the next seven points to slice the Huskies' lead to one at 19-18. Still up by one at 21-20, HBU scored three in a row on a kill by Banks and back-to-back kills by Wooten to set up set point at 24-20. A service error kept SFA alive, but Richey once again put away the final point to send the Huskies to the intermission with a 2-0 lead, 25-21.
A Wooten kill put HBU ahead early, 5-2, but SFA fought back and tied the set, 8-8. The Huskies led, 13-12, but the Ladyjacks scored four straight points for a three-point advantage. SFA pushed its lead to four at 18-14, but HBU scored the next two. Trailing 19-16, the Huskies ripped off five-straight points to reclaim the lead. Kills by Coleman and Redmond tied the set, 22-22, and forced HBU to call a timeout. Coleman gave the Ladyjacks the lead with a kill, but Banks tied it with a kill and Wooten followed with a kill to get to match point. SFA was called for a ball handling error on the final point to clinch the victory for HBU, 25-23. Banks hit .350 for the set with eight kills and one error on 20 attempts.
Banks also closed within five of reaching 1,000 kills and 87 within 1,000 digs for her career, as she attempts to become the fourth player in HBU history to achieve both marks.
The Huskies return to action when they hit the road again to face Southeastern Louisiana Thursday, followed by New Orleans Saturday.
