Arkadelphia, Ark. – Southern Arkansas fell short in their final road game of the season, losing in four sets (25-27, 21-25, 25-23, 16-25) to the first Arkadelphia team the Muleriders will face this week. The Mulerider matched a season-high 10 service aces, highlighted by junior Sakura Thomas who recorded a career-high six to extend her to a team leading 23 on the season.
Sophomore Isla Olivas dominated the Mulerider offense with 11 kills and a .240 hitting percentage while sophomore Anna Crittenden (9 kills) and freshman Lauryn Moultrie (8 kills, .286 hitting %) produced impressive performances as well. Junior Morgan Schuster once again spent the night adding to her career-assists record, recording 36 of the team's 39. Sophomore Samantha Still and Sakura Thomas also aided the Mulerider defense with their 14 digs a piece. Olivas also produced four blocks on the night while Moultrie and Rogers each recorded a pair.
The first set seemed like an early success for the Muleriders, with the team holding a lead over the Reddies up until the game was tied at 11s when the Muleriders went on a 10-3 run to extend their lead once again. Henderson fought back and went on a 6-0 run to decrease the Mulerider lead to just one point. The end of the set proved a back-and-forth battle between the two Arkansas teams before the Reddies came away with the win following an attack error by the Muleriders and a kill by Christine Uzoh to wrap things up. Crittenden recorded five kills in the first set alone and Thomas recorded back-to-back-to-back service aces to begin her service domination.
The tides turned in the second set and the Reddies held the lead over the Muleriders until Southern Arkansas fought back to tie the game at 17 following a 7-2 run. Back-to-back attach errors by the Muleriders allowed the Reddies to recover the lead and continue second set domination despite the effort from the Muleriders that allowed the team to breach 20 points.
Despite an early attempt from the Reddies to keep the game within a couple points reach, the Muleriders held the lead for the third set and emerged victorious in the only set victory of the night. The third set was highlighted by service aces from both Thomas and sophomore Alexa Heard.
The Muleriders seemed to not be able to get their footing in the fourth and final set, being held under 20 points by the Reddies. The Muleriders once again recorded a pair of service aces, served up by Moultrie and Thomas.
Southern Arkansas will return to the W.T. Watson Center for their final chance to improve their season record. The Muleriders will host Ouachita Baptist on Thursday, October 3 in a 6 p.m. first serve. The Tigers swept Arkansas Tech on September 1 to improve their GAC record to 9-6. Four seniors will be recognized before the game during the senior night festivities. Live coverage links are available at www.MuleriderAthletics.com.
