CONWAY, Ark. – Freshmen
Abby Bermudez and
Ciarra Wright each delivered eight kills and posted the top two individual hitting percentages by a Mulerider this season as Southern Arkansas attacked at a season-best .329 in a three-set win (25-15, 25-12, 25-15) over Central Baptist College on Tuesday night inside A.R. Reddin Fieldhouse in Conway, Arkansas.
In the win, SAU produced a 9-0 run to close out set one, a 10-0 run that was part of a 15-5 streak in set two, and 7-0 run to distance themselves from the Mustangs in the third set.
The Muleriders (7-13) won their seventh match of the season for the third-consecutive season and did so quickly as the squad fired hit clips of .200, .393 and .375 in sets one through three, respectively. SAU produced 40 kills to just a dozen errors. Leading that charge was Bermudez and Wright. Bermudez finished with an attack percentage of .583 (8-1-12) and Wright followed at .500 (8-1-14).
Sophomore
Bailey Cagle followed with six kills at a .250 hit clip and junior
Seven Powers added five at .364. Cagle registered half of the Muleriders' six service aces in the win.
The offense went through freshman
Caitlin Murdock on Tuesday night as she produced 33 assists and added four kills, four block assist, one block solo and a pair of digs. Murdock's 33 assists are a season-best three-set mark for Southern Arkansas this season and a career-high for the setter.
Bermudez joined Murdock with four block assists, while the Muleriders finished with 12 block assists and one solo block; the second-most in a match this season.
The team's 49 digs are the third-most in a three-set match this season and were led in the category by freshman
Camryn Bihary who finished with 18, while senior
Bailey Zoss chipped in with 11.
UP NEXT
Southern Arkansas prepares for their final nine matches of the regular season as the team jumps back into Great American Conference play this weekend beginning first with a trip to Bethany, Oklahoma, for a 4 p.m. first-serve against Southern Nazarene on Friday, October 5. On Saturday, SAU plays Oklahoma Baptist in Shawnee at 1 p.m. Live coverage links will be available at
www.MuleriderAthletics.com