[October 26, 2008]

By: Houston Taylor

MEMPHIS – Southern Arkansas suffered its second consecutive 3-0 shutout, falling by scores of 14-25, 11-25 and 20-25 to Christian Brothers Saturday at Canale Arena. The Lady Muleriders were handed the same result at Arkansas Tech on Tuesday.

The Lady Buccaneers (21-7, 6-3 GSC) led throughout in the first two sets, opening with a 4-0 lead in the first and building on that. Down 3-0 in the second, SAU climbed back to within 8-6, but a 10-0 run put CBU back in control for the win. Southern Arkansas took its first lead of the match at 5-4 in the final set and was up 12-11 later, but Christian Brothers rallied to claim the match.

The Lady Bucs hit .360 in gaining the victory, getting 37 kills behind Hanna Orendorff’s match-high 11. The Lady Muleriders hit just .176 with 32 kills, but committed 16 attack errors.

Jenna Cherry, Kelly Nolan and Bridget Buckley each had seven digs to lead CBU defensively.

Veronica Ogbeide had nine kills for SAU, with Maggie Ross and Danielle Sneed contributing seven apiece. Michaela Scroggins had 30 of Southern Arkansas’ 32 assists.

Mallory McKee led all players with 17 digs, and Ogbeide finished with two blocks, both solo.

Struggling lately, the Lady Muleriders have now lost four of their past five matches, falling to 10-16 overall and 2-7 in Gulf South Conference play. They return home Tuesday, hosting Arkansas-Monticello at 7 p.m. in SAU’s inaugural “Dig for the Cure” match to raise money for breast cancer research. Monetary pledges are currently being accepted for the total number of digs officially recorded in the match.