NATCHITOCHES, La. – Down two sets to none, fifth-seeded HBU picked itself up off the mat and rebounded for a 3-2 (18-25, 16-25, 25-19, 25-21, 15-12) victory over fourth-seeded Abilene Christian in the first round of the Southland Conference Tournament Friday afternoon at Prather Coliseum.
"ACU came out very strong and took us out of the match early," HBU head coach
Trent Herman said. "We worked through the first two sets to find our footing and once we did, we played a strong defensive match. We battled the whole match to find our offense and it showed up strong when we needed it in the fifth set."
Sophomore outside hitter
Mikayla Vivens posted 19 kills and 19 digs, while senior setter
Madison O'Brien also double-doubled with 48 assists, a career-high 20 digs and four kills for the Huskies (16-15). Sophomore middle blocker
Megan Patillo added 11 kills and five blocks, while senior middle blocker
Kayla Davenport and sophomore right side Ashytn Richey each had 10 kills. Junior libero
Hannah Lewis came up with 19 digs and freshman defensive specialist
Cici Collins had 12. Redshirt freshman
Kelly Colwell chipped in with nine kills and junior defensive specialist
Camie Copeland had nine digs.
Lauren Walker hit .464 with 13 kills and no errors and Jacey Smith had 12 kills and 11 digs for the Wildcats (13-16). Marybeth Sandercox had 11 kills and four blocks and Kennedy Shelstead had six blocks. Lillian Drever recorded 30 digs and Katelyn Mueller had 16 to go along with eight kills.
The Huskies hit only .160 and the Wildcats hit .199 for the match. HBU outdug ACU, 86-79, had 13 more kills, and outaced them, 7-3, but the Wildcats held a 10-8 edge in blocks.
ACU used a five-point run early in the first to take an 8-4 lead. With HBU within two, the Wildcats scored four straight to extend their advantage to 16-10. ACU led by as many as nine and HBU fought off three set points before falling, 25-18.
The Wildcats scored six of the first seven points of the second and led 8-2. The Huskies were able to get back within four for the last time at 13-9, but ACU opened up as much as a 10-point lead and went on to win, 25-16, to go up 2-0.
The third set was close until the midpoint when the two sides were knotted at 16-16. The Huskies then took control by ripping off six-straight points, including two kills and a block by Patillo. Another kill by Patillo got HBU to set point, then sophomore setter
Morgan Dewyer fired an ace to clinch the set, 25-19.
The fourth set was tied 12-12 when HBU blitzed ACU with seven-straight points, which featured a pair of kills by O'Brien and an ace by Dewyer. The Huskies led 23-16, but the Wildcats would not go quietly, scoring five in a row to get within two. Colwell ended the run with a kill to get to set point and an ACU attack error gave the Huskies a 25-21 decision to tie the match.
ACU sapped any momentum HBU had built up by jumping out to a 7-3 lead in the fifth. The Wildcats led 12-9, then the Huskies reeled off the final six points of the match with a kill by Davenport, three-straight kills by Richey, an ace by O'Brien for set point, then Vivens putting it away with a kill.
HBU will face No. 1 seed Stephen F. Austin in the first semifinal Saturday at noon, with the winner advancing to Sunday's championship match at 3:05 p.m.
