ARKADELPHIA, Ark. — Southern Nazarene could not find a spark in Saturday's afternoon matchup with Henderson State, losing to the Reddies by a final score of 3-1.
A day earlier, The Storm (14-10,4-7 GAC) faced a tough battle with Ouachita Baptist, losing in three straight sets to the Tigers. Southern Nazarene never got the ball rolling after their first set win against the Reddies (16-8,7-4 GAC), who contributed to 31 SNU turnovers and tallied 14 total blocks in the match.
The opening set was an intense battle all the way through as the teams went back and forth at the net. Southern Nazarene saw a quick burst midway through the set, powering up a 4-0 run to take a six point lead. Henderson State was quick to answer with a 7-1 run and soon cut the deficit down to two points.
The teams stayed close and Henderson State eventually controlled a small lead of three puting some pressure on the Storm late in the set. Kills from Sunny Batschelett and Tynaa Mojica set SNU up for a late 4-0 run and they reached match point, up by two. The Reddies brought the game to a single point, but a huge block from Mojica and Tessa Henry sealed the win for the Storm, 25-23, and SNU had the match lead of 1-0.
Henderson State allowed that loss to fuel their fire and they exploded in set 2, putting together multiple scoring runs that allowed them to maintain a hefty 17-3 advantage. The Storm fought to cut the deficit late, but the Reddies were unstoppable and continued to answer every Storm attack, eventually earning their very first set win of the match at 25-11.
Henderson State stayed the course and delivered the same energy in the third set. Southern Nazarene stayed closer in this set, with their largest deficit at just eight points. The Storm were able to close the gap down to six midway through, but there was no stopping Henderson State on the offensive end. The Storm did not give up without a fight, outscoring the Reddies 6-3 in the final few possession. HSU's early fire carried them to the finish and they earned the the third set victory at 25-20.
Looking to avoid another slow start to a set, Southern Nazarene matched the Reddies' energy early and made it a more difficult game in the fourth set. Down by just two points, SNU felt the sting of another Henderson State scoring run as the Reddies exploded for six consecutive points to quickly run up their lead to 18-10.
Batschelett continued to be the leading force for the NSU offense, helping to close the gap to four points late in the set, but Henderson found ways to add in back-to-back scores to keep SNU at bay. Rayanna Mauldin and Whitney Bowie teamed up on the offensive end to deliver three consecutive kills and soon the Storm were down 23-20. Henderson State warded off the SNU comeback in the end and claimed the set 4 victory of 25-22, winning the match by a final score of 3-1.
Up Next
Southern Nazarene will return home for a Tuesday matchup with Southeastern Oklahoma State on October 24th at 7 p.m. The Crimson Storm have already lost to the Savage Storm this season in Durant, dropping their early conference match to SE, 3-1.
