HOUSTON – After cruising through the first two sets, HBU had to hold off Northwestern State in the third to finish off the sweep, 3-0 (25-13, 25-16, 25-22), in Southland Conference volleyball Thursday night in Sharp Gym.
Senior outside hitter
Mikayla Vivens had 10 kills and seven digs, pushing her career totals to 995 kills and 1,002 digs, five kills shy of becoming the sixth member of HBU's 1,000-1,000 Club. Redshirt freshman outside hitter
Reagan Leinen led the Huskies (5-2 SLC) with 11 kills, while sophomore right side
Anna Gadway had 10 kills and nine digs. Junior middle blocker
Jada Allen added seven kills and three blocks, while junior middle blocker
Ebonie Ballesteros had six kills and three blocks. Sophomore setter
Ellie Wipf dished out 38 assists and had eight digs, redshirt freshman libero
Kaley Feris came up with 17 digs and freshman defensive specialist
Madeline McKinney had 10 digs.
Breanna Burrell led the Lady Demons (0-7 SLC) with 12 kills and eight digs. Addison McDermott chipped in with six kills and six digs. Autumn Gentry had 19 assists, 11 digs and three kills, while Bryce Potter led NSU with 13 digs.
The Huskies hit .246 for the match, while holding the Lady Demons to .111. HBU outdug NSU, 53-43, and outaced them, 3-1. Both team registered six blocks.
HBU scored five of the first six points in the match, then later went on a six-point run to lead 16-4. Leinen scored the final two points of the set with kills to put away a 25-13 win.
The second set was tied, 8-8, until the Huskies exploded for seven-straight points. The Lady Demons never got closer than five the rest of the way as HBU took the frame, 25-16.
The Huskies trailed, 13-12, in the third, but scored the next three points to regain a two-point advantage. HBU still led by one at 17-16, before scoring the next four to extend the lead to five. McKinney served up an ace to make the score 23-17, but NSU scored five-straight points to slice HBU lead to one. Gadway stopped the run with a kill to get to match point, then Allen put it away for the 25-22 decision.
HBU returns to action when it hosts Central Arkansas, which is also 5-2 and tied for third in the league, Saturday at noon in Sharp Gym. The match will be shown live with
Russ Reneau on the Husky Sports Network.
