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CONWAY, Ark. - The No. 6 seed HBU will take on the No. 3 seed Northwestern State in the opening round of the Southland Conference Tournament Friday at 1:30 p.m. at the Farris Center.
The Huskies (17-14, 9-7 SLC) are led by two-time all-conference selection junior outside hitter
Mikayla Vivens, who ranked fifth in the league with 3.71 kills per set and ranked ninth with 3.90 digs per set in league play. Sophomore outside hitter
Kelly Colwell ranked ninth with 3.16 kills per set, while adding 3.34 digs per set. Junior right side
Ashtyn Richey hit .307 and averaged 2.46 kill per set in conference play. Sophomore middle blocker
Ebonie Ballesteros ranked fourth in the league with 1.11 blocks per set and junior setter
Morgan Dewyer led the SLC with 10.81 assists per set. Senior libero
Hannah Lewis averaged 3.82 digs per set.
SLC Player of the Year Hannah Brister led the league with 4.59 kills per set to go along with 2.59 digs per set for the Lady Demons (19-11, 11-5), while Alexis Warren added 2.79 kills and 3.36 digs per set. Kourtney Seaton chipped in 2.15 kills per set and was NSU's top blocker with 46. Cayman Sutton handed out 5.51 assists per set, with Skylar Besch averaging 4.79 per set. Megan Lohmiller ranked fourth in the league with 4.98 digs per set.
The schools split their two meetings this season, with each side holding serve at home. NSU claimed a 3-1 (17-25, 25-23, 25-21, 25-22) victory in Natchitoches on Sept 28 and HBU posted a 3-1 (25-19, 22-25, 25-16, 25-22) win in Houston on Nov. 9.
HBU is making its seventh-straight tournament appearance since joining the league in 2013. The Huskies are 4-2 in first-round matches and advanced to the championship match once in 2015.
The first-round and semifinal matches will be shown on Southland Digital Network, with the championship match being shown on ESPN Plus. The winner of the tournament claims the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, which begins Dec. 5.
Schedule
Friday, Nov. 22
#2 Sam Houston State vs. #7 Southeastern Louisiana - 11 a.m.
#3 Northwestern State vs. #6 HBU - 1:30 p.m.
#1 Stephen F. Austin vs. #8 New Orleans - 4 p.m.
#4 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi vs. #5 Central Arkansas - 6:30 p.m.
Saturday, Nov. 23
Semifinal #1 - Noon
Semifinal #2 - 2:30 p.m.
Sunday, Nov. 24
Championship Match - 3:05 p.m.
