The Ouachita Baptist volleyball team concluded play Saturday at the University of West Florida Comfort Inn-vitational Volleyball Tournament by dropping a pair of matches to St. Joseph’s, 3-0 and UNC-Pembroke, 3-2.
Against UNC-Pembroke, the Lady Tigers (0-4) raced out to a 5-1 lead in the opening game after a kill by Kaitlyn Mitcham. However, the Lady Braves rallied to tie the game at 11 after a kill by Rachel Young. Pembroke took advantage of a hitting error to grab the lead in which it never relinquished in a 25-23 win. In the second game, Ouachita Baptist jumped out to a 9-5 advantage after a kill by Lexie Hegi, set up by Stephanie Carrell. The Lady Tigers continued to hold off the Lady Braves to take the second game, 25-19.
Ouachita Baptist opened the third game by exploding to an 8-3 lead after a kill by Meredith Henry, assisted by Lauren Stuart. A kill by Mitcham gave the Lady Tigers its biggest advantage of the tournament, 18-9. Ouachita Baptist cruised to a 25-16 win. For the first time this season, Ouachita Baptist played in a four-set match as the Lady Tigers raced out to an 8-3 advantage after a kill by Mitcham, set up by Hegi. Back came the Lady Braves as Allie Schneider gave UNC-Pembroke a 12-11 lead. The Lady Braves never surrendered the lead in getting a 25-21 win to force a fifth set.
In the final set, Ouachita Baptist tried to rally from a 12-6 deficit, but couldn’t overcome the big margin in a 15-10 loss.
Mitcham paced the Lady Tigers offense with 13 kills, while Meredith Henry added 12. Hegi finished with 27 assists, while Stuart chipped in with 24. Defensively, Carrell and Raichel Settle had 31 and 27 digs, respectively. Ouachita Baptist finished the match with 91 digs, 62 kills and 60 assists.
In the opening match against St. Joseph’s, the Pumas proved to be too much, beating the Lady Tigers, 25-16. In the second game, St. Joseph’s cruised to a 25-6. In the third game, Settle gave Ouachita Baptist an 8-7 lead after a service ace and with the game tied at 10, the Pumas scored nine out of the last 14 points to grab a 19-15 advantage. The Lady Tigers continued to keep the game close, but in the end, St. Joseph’s took the game and the match, 25-18.
Ouachita Baptist had 52 digs and 18 kills in the match.
Libby Merritt and Henry paced the Lady Tiger offense with four kills. Settle had 11 digs and three service aces, while Hegi finished with 11 digs and nine assists.
The Lady Tigers return to action Friday, Sept. 5 and Saturday, Sept. 6 at the Texas Woman’s Volleyball Tournament in Denton, Texas. Ouachita Baptist will meet Cameron and Texas Woman’s on Friday, before finishing the two-day tournament with matches against Permian Basin and Southeastern Oklahoma State.
