BETHANY – The Southern Nazarene University volleyball team tried to make it three straight wins on Saturday morning, but fell in heartbreaking fashion in five sets to Henderson State University.
It was "Dig Pink" day inside the Sawyer Center as the Crimson Storm (14-7, 4-3 GAC) dawned their grey uniforms and pink numbers. They had chances to win their fifth conference match of the season, but the Reddies (11-9, 4-3 GAC) edged them out in the final frame.
Amidst the gut-wrenching loss,
Kylie Smith had a historic match and found herself at the top of the SNU record book when the final point was scored. She finished the match with 67 assists, which is a school-record for assists in a single match. Smith was phenomenal, setting up her attackers all match as the Storm had five players finish with 10+ kills. On top of that, Smith added three blocks and 14 digs.
Bailee Turang led the way for Southern Nazarene with 17 kills, which brings her total to 55 kills in just the last three matches alone.
Kayla Thomas hit .220 and finished the match with 15 kills to go along with two blocks.
Bailey Grimes and
Meagan Ellis each tallied 14 kills as Grimes finished with two blocks and Ellis with one and also added two aces. Freshman
Sunny Batschelett followed up her excellent Friday match with another good one, totaling 12 kills as well.
After jumping out to a quick 11-6 lead in the first set, Southern Nazarene tried to hold off the Henderson rally. The Reddies came back and tied the set 15-15 before the Storm pushed it to 21-17. A couple of kills from Ellis and Turang gave SNU the first set 26-24. The second set was back and forth to start before Henderson opened up an 18-13 lead. Southern Nazarene responded with a 10-5 run to tie it at 23-23 and looked like they could take a 2-0 set lead. But the Reddies weren't having it, as they finished the set on a 3-1 run to tie the match 1-1.
The Crimson Storm dominated the third stanza even after Henderson State hopped out to a 4-0 lead. An 11-4 run by SNU gave them a 11-7 advantage. The Reddies tried to make it interesting but a couple of aces from Ellis and a kill from Thomas gave the Storm a 25-19 set win to push their lead to 2-1. The fourth set was just as competitive as Southern Nazarene got a kill from Batschelett to tie the match 12-12. Henderson however, scored four straight to make it 17-12 and stole all momentum as they took the frame 25-21 to push the match to a fifth set.
The final frame was by far the most entertaining of the match. Both teams traded points before Grimes' kill gave SNU a 7-5 lead. After Thomas picked up a kill to make it 10-7 it looked like the Storm were on their way to a win but the Reddies went on a 7-4 run to tie the match 14-14. The final set was almost pushed to 20 points before Henderson scored two straight points to take the match.
Southern Nazarene will be on the road next week as they travel to Arkansas for a pair of GAC contests against Arkansas-Monticello on Friday at 6:00 pm and Southern Arkansas next Saturday at 12:00 pm.
