Lady Muleriders Drop “Dig for the Cure” Match to UAM
Posted by Houston Taylor on October 28, 2008 · Leave a Comment
By: Houston Taylor
MAGNOLIA, Ark. – Southern Arkansas’ Gulf South Conference tournament hopes were dimmed some Tuesday as they dropped a 3-1 (18-25, 21-25, 25-23, 22-25) decision to Arkansas-Monticello at the W.T. Watson Athletic Center.
The Lady Muleriders are still not mathematically eliminated from post-season play as they have two league matches remaining. The loss didn’t help though, as they came in trailing the Cotton Blossoms by just one win for the fourth and final spot from the GSC West Division.
UAM (18-14, 4-5 GSC) stayed in control in claiming the first two sets, but SAU (10-17, 2-8 GSC) found a spark to take the third game win, ending a string of eight consecutive set losses in the process. Southern Arkansas seemed to be in control of the fourth set also, but a late rally allowed Arkansas-Monticello to claim it and the match.
It was a defensive slugfest as both teams hit poorly, SAU for .115 with 23 attack errors, and the Cotton Blossoms .105 with 20.
Jalynn Thornton led all players with 14 kills and teammate Nicole Ferguson posted 10 to pace UAM. MacKenzie Willis finished with a team-high 29 digs, while Cayla Knapp had 21. Mallory Storm had four blocks, one solo.
Southern Arkansas was led by Danielle Sneed’s 12 kills, and Veronica Ogbeide had 11. Michaela Scroggins served up 37 assists, and Maggie Ross and Sarah Bell each had three service aces.
Mallory McKee recorded the second-highest dig total for a match in Lady Mulerider history with 42, just two shy of her own school record of 44. She now has four 40-plus dig matches in her four-year career, and 17 of 30-plus. Her teammates got in on the action also, with Bell picking up 23, Scroggins getting 17, Sneed adding 15, and Kaci Matthews chipping in 13. Ross had four solo blocks to lead the team.
A bright spot on the night, and a pink one at that, was that the match served as SAU’s “Dig for the Cure” for breast cancer research, with monetary pledges being taken for the total number of official digs in the contest. It proved to be productive as the two teams combined for 239 total digs.
Southern Arkansas wraps up the home portion of their season Thursday when they host Henderson State at 7 p.m. They had a 3-2 victory against the Lady Reddies in Arkadelphia on October 7. The Lady Muleriders close their regular season next Tuesday playing at Ouachita Baptist. SAU will need both wins to stand any chance of advancing to the GSC tournament. Arkansas Tech, with a perfect conference mark of 9-0, has already earned a spot. Harding (6-2) and Christian Brothers (6-3) seem to also have a lock on advancing. Arkansas-Monticello has now put itself in a better position, with Henderson State (2-6), Southern Arkansas and Ouachita Baptist (2-7) fighting for the final berth.
