LAKE CHARLES, La. – HBU gutted out a marathon third-set victory and was able to hold off McNeese, 3-1 (25-21, 13-25, 32-30, 25-23), and run its winning streak to seven matches in the Southland Conference volleyball regular-season finale Thursday night in the Rec Center.
Senior outside hitter
Mikayla Vivens recorded a double-double, hitting .250 with 10 kills and 14 digs for the Huskies (21-7, 12-2 SLC). Junior right side
Anna Gadway had nine kills, while senior middle blocker
Jada Allen had seven kills and five blocks. Freshman middle blocker
Audrey Pearce posted six kills and six blocks, while freshman outside hitter
Alexia Jones had six kills, six digs and a pair of aces. Junior setter
Ellie Wipf had 33 assists, four kills, five digs and five blocks. Sophomore libero
Kaley Feris led HBU with 15 digs.
Aryn Johnson had 17 kills and 13 digs for the Cowgirls (16-10, 9-5), while Macee Krpec and Anyse Smith each added 12 kills. Ceci Harness handed out 24 assists with seven digs and Baylee Laskoskie had 21 assists and 11 digs. Lizzy Low came up with 21 digs.
McNeese hit .150 for the match, with HBU hitting .129. The Cowgirls outdug the Huskies, 65-48, and both teams had five aces. HBU put up 11 blocks to McNeese's five.
HBU trailed 14-13 midway through the first set, but scored three-straight to take a two-point lead. The Cowgirls were still within two at 21-19, but another three-point spurt extended the Huskies' lead to five and they went on to close out the set, 25-21.
The Huskies could not get going in the second, matching their eight kills with eight errors, while the Cowgirls hit .259 with 10 kills and only three errors. McNeese only trailed after HBU scored the first point, then cruised to a 25-13 decision to tie the match.
HBU jumped out to an 11-6 lead in the third and maintained a five-point advantage at 18-13. McNeese clawed back with three-straight, but kills by Vivens and Wipf restored the Huskies' lead to four. HBU got to set point at 24-21, but McNeese rebounded to score the next three to tie the set at 24-24. The Cowgirls had four set points down the stretch, but the Huskies answered each time to keep it even. With the set tied, 30-30, HBU got a kill from Vivens, then an ace by Wipf to pull out the 32-30 victory.
The Huskies scored four-straight on a block by Allen and Jones, an ace by Jones and kills by Wipf and Vivens to go up, 7-3, early in the fourth. A block by Allen and Gadway put HBU ahead by five for its largest lead of the set at 15-10 and the Huskies still led by four at 19-15. The Cowgirls then went on a six-point run to take a two-point lead, but the Huskies answered with the next three to regain a 22-21 lead. Knotted up at 23-23, HBU got a kill from Gadway and an attack error by Smith ended the match.
With its 21
st victory, HBU matched the most wins in a season under head coach
Trent Herman and posted the best winning percentage at .750. It marks the third 20-win season at HBU for Herman and the best showing in Southland Conference play with an .857 winning percentage, finishing one match behind regular-season champion Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.
The Huskies locked up the No. 2 seed and will have a bye to the semifinals when they host the Southland Conference Tournament next week. McNeese finished third and will have a bye to quarterfinals, where it will face the winner of Northwestern State and Nicholls for the right to play HBU.
HBU will play in the first semifinal Saturday, Nov. 20 at noon. The Southland Conference Tournament begins Thursday with the first round matches at noon and 2:30 p.m. Friday's and Saturday's matches will also be at noon and 2:30 p.m., with Sunday's championship match at 2 p.m.
