ALVA, Okla. – Junior defensive specialist
Hannah Rice eclipsed the 1,000-career dig mark with 28 digs and senior
Shelby Lauterbach led the Lady Muleriders in kills for the second-straight night with 15, but Southern Arkansas suffered a five-set loss to Northwestern Oklahoma St. on Saturday morning.
Rice was 20 digs shy of the milestone entering the GAC affair in Alva and became the fourth Lady Mulerider to capture the accomplishment since 2001.
The Lady Muleriders (10-10, 3-4 GAC) were held to an attack percentage of .090 over the five-set match, and despite a Lady Ranger fourth set that saw Northwestern swing it at a clip of .400, the SAU defense forced the Lady Rangers to a .107 attack average in the other four sets.
With the match tied at 1, Southern Arkansas overcame a trio of four point leads from Northwestern and ended the third frame on an 11-2 run that included three Lauterbach kills and five Lady Ranger attack errors. An early 7-0 run for Northwestern in the fourth set transitioned the momentum as they took a 13-3 lead and cruised to force a fifth set for SAU for the second-straight night.
Leading 5-4 in the final set, Southern Arkansas was unable to keep the lead as the Lady Rangers rattled off a 4-0 run to eventually take a12-8 lead. But SAU would battle back with a 5-0 run, as Northwestern held match-point at 14-11, to take a 15-14 lead. Consecutive Lady Ranger kills were answered by a kill from junior
Serena LeDuff, but Northwestern finished off SAU with back-to-back points to take the match.
LeDuff added 14 kills, while senior
Taylor Reaume delivered with 37 assists. Senior
Emilie Aase and junior
Kaitlyn Reiner each produced three blocks.
The Lady Muleriders return home for a non-conference matchup with Williams Baptist College at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, October 13. Be sure to stay-up-to date on Lady Mulerider Volleyball by visiting muleriderathletics.com.
