CONWAY, Ark. - HBU junior outside hitter
Mikayla Vivens and sophomore outside hitter
Kelly Colwell both double-doubled for the second-straight match as the Huskies downed Central Arkansas, 3-1 (25-19, 25-22, 22-25, 25-21) in the Southland Conference volleyball opener Thursday night at the Prince Center.
Vivens hit .368 with 15 kills, only one error, and had 16 digs, while Colwell had 12 kills and 13 digs for HBU (9-7, 1-0 SLC). Junior right side
Ashtyn Richey sparked the Huskies off the bench, hitting .412 with nine kills and junior middle blocker
Megan Patillo hit .429 with eight kills. Junior setter
Morgan Dewyer dished out 44 assists and recorded two kills, nine digs, three blocks and three aces. Senior libero
Camie Copeland had 11 digs and senior defensive specialist
Hannah Lewis added eight digs and four aces. Sophomore middle blocker
Ebonie Ballesteros put up five blocks to go along with four kills.
Madi Bowles and Abbie Harry each had 14 kills for the Sugar Bears (6-8, 0-1) and Lexi Miller chipped in with 10 kills. Emily Doss led UCA with 15 digs and three aces, while adding five assists and Alexis Stumbough had 13 digs. Bailey Wadidngton recorded 22 assists and 11 digs and Elizabeth Armstrong had 17 assists.
HBU hit .201 for the match, while UCA hit .188. The Huskies outdug the Sugar Bears, 61-58, each team had eight blocks, but HBU served up 10 aces to UCA's three.
UCA scored the first four points of the match, but HBU later used a four-point swing to take its first lead at 10-9. The Huskies trailed 16-13, but then ripped off nine-straight points, which included three kills by Colwell and a pair of aces by Lewis, to seize a 22-16 lead. Patillo had two kills to get HBU to set point, then a UCA attack error gave the Huskies a 25-19 win.
HBU trailed 8-6 in the second, but three aces by Dewyer and three blocks by Ballesteros led to an eight-point run for a 14-8 lead. UCA fought back and answered with five-straight points to regain the lead at 17-16. Down 21-20, the Huskies scored four in a row on a pair of kills by Vivens and one by Richey to get to set point. A service error made the score 25-22 to stake HBU to a 2-0 lead.
The Sugar Bears came out of the break by scoring the first seven points of the third. The Huskies were able to claw back within one at 16-15 and finally tied the set for the first time at 22-22, but UCA scored the last three points, ending the set on back-to-back kills by Harry for the 25-22 decision.
UCA led 10-8 in the fourth and neither team led by more than one until HBU took a 20-18 advantage. With the set tied, 22-22, Colwell and Richey each had kills to get to match point. The Sugar Bears stayed alive on a kill by Harry, but a service error ended the match.
The Huskies continue their road trip when they face Northwestern State Saturday at 11 a.m. at Prather Coliseum in Natchitoches, La.
