NATCHITOCHES, La. – After narrowly dropping the third set to fall behind two sets to one, HBU was able to hold off Northwestern State in the fourth and fifth sets as the Huskies pulled off a 3-2 (25-22, 20-25, 26-28, 25-23, 15-13) victory in Southland Conference volleyball Thursday night at Prather Coliseum.
Sophomore outside hitter
Mikayla Vivens hit .317 with a career-high 25 kills and 12 digs for her league-leading 18
th double-double of the season for the Huskies (13-14, 6-7 SLC). Redshirt freshman outside hitter
Kelly Colwell added 12 kills in her return to full-time action, and sophomore right side
Ashtyn Richey posted 10 kills and seven digs. In the middle, sophomore
Megan Patillo had nine kills and four blocks, while senior
Kayla Davenport had seven kills and five blocks, with freshman outside hitter
Catherine Drapela contributing six kills. Senior setter
Madison O'Brien dished out a career-high 62 assists to go along with 15 digs, two kills and a pair of aces. Junior libero
Hannah Lewis came up with 21 digs, junior defensive specialist
Camie Copeland had 13 and freshman defensive specialist
Cici Collins had 11.
Hannah Brister recorded 23 kills and eight digs and Madeline Drake had 12 kills for the Demons (9-13, 5-7). Reagan Rogers chipped in with eight kills and Alexis Warren had seven to go along with 19 digs. Skyler Besch had 52 assists and seven digs, while Channing Burleson had 28 digs and Megan Lohmiller added 10.
HBU hit .223 for the match and held NSU to .197. The Huskies outdug the Demons, 85-75, outblocked them, 9-6, and had four aces to NSU's three.
Back-to-back kills by Richey pushed the Huskies to a 7-2 lead in the fifth, but he Demons stormed back and closed to within one at 9-8. Still leading by one at 10-9, an NSU service error and a kill by Vivens put HBU back up by three. Trailing 13-10, the Demons got a kill by Brister and an ace by Sutton to close within one. A block by Davenport and Vivens got the Huskies to match point at 14-12, but the Demons answered on another kill by Brister. Vivens then put the match away with a kill for the 15-13 victory.
HBU trailed 17-14 in the first, but scored six of the next seven, including a pair of kills by Richey, to take a 20-18 lead. The Huskies stretched the lead to four at 23-19 and went on to take the opening frame, 25-22.
The second set was tied, 10-10, but the Demons took five of the next six points to lead 15-11. HBU was able to close within two at 22-20, then NSU scored the final three points for a 25-20 win to even the match.
The Huskies scored the first three points of the third in jumping out to a 7-2 lead, but the Demons scored six of the next seven to knot the set at 8-8. Neither team led by more than one until HBU scored three in a row, including back-to-back blocks by Davenport and Richey. NSU tied the set at 20-20 and the teams went back-and-forth until HBU led 26-25. Back-to-back kills by Brister got the Demons to set point and an attack error gave NSU a 28-26 decision and a two sets to one lead.
Vivens started off the fourth set with three-straight kills and an ace by O'Brien made it 4-0. NSU came right back to score the next four and the two sides remained close until the Demons took a 16-13 lead. The Huskies ripped off five-straight points, punctuated by a Davenport and Colwell block for a two-point advantage. The set was tied, 22-22, but a service error by NSU and a block by O'Brien and Patillo got HBU to set point. After the Demons sided out on a kill by Rogers, Vivens closed the door with a kill for a 25-23 win to send it to a fifth set.
The Huskies wrap up the road trip against Southeastern Louisiana Saturday at 10 a.m. in Hammond, Louisiana.
