HOUSTON -– HCU capped off a daunting opening stretch of conference play by sweeping Northwestern State (25-21, 25-19, 25-23) on Saturday afternoon in Sharp Gymnasium. The Huskies bounced back from Thursday's tough loss to rival Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and finish off 10-day span with four wins in five outings.
The Huskies (9-8, 4-1 SLC) grabbed an early 6-4 lead in the opening set off a four-point run that ended on a
Sara Arroyo kill. After the Lady Demons (8-9, 4-2 SLC) retook the lead, the Huskies tied the game at 10-10 off a kill by
Cassidy Drapela. NSU ran off six of the next eight points, taking a 16-12 lead before the Huskies got back-to-back points off kills by
Audrey Pearce and Drapela. With NSU leading 20-17, the Huskies would put together a 7-1 closing spurt that was highlighted by consecutive kills by
Anna Gadway, giving HCU a 25-21 first game victory.
In set two, HCU quickly jumped out to an 8-3 lead. The Lady Demons closed to 12-9, but the Huskies answered with five of the next seven points, capped off by an Arroyo kill that pushed the lead to six, 17-11. NSU would close to within two, 20-18 before the Huskies again closed strong, this time with a 5-1 burst to take a 2-0 lead in the match.
A back-and-forth third set saw Northwestern State hold a slim 8-6 advantage before HCU rallied to take a 9-8 lead on a kill by Gadway. The Lady Demons retook the lead on two more occasions, but the Huskies stormed back and got bookend kills from
Sara Arroyo during a run that gave them the lead at 16-15. Back-to-back kills by Arroyo later would provide the decisive touch, finishing off the the three-game sweep.
The Huskies were led by Arroyo with 15 kills while Pearce added seven kills and four blocks.
Grace McLaughlin dished out 34 assists along with nine digs and
Kaley Feris led the Huskies defensively with 21 digs.
Northwestern State was led by Tessa Gerwig with nine kills and three blocks. Piper Boydstun dished out 16 assists while Amina Attra added 13 assists. Ashlyn Svoboda led the Lady Demon's back line with 15 digs.
HCU will return to action battling Southeastern Louisiana on Thursday, Oct. 5
th in Hammond, Louisiana in University Center at 6:30 p.m.
