Magnolia, Ark. – The Mulerider volleyball team concluded the 2022 season with a 4-12 Great American Conference record (6-21 overall) to record their winningest conference season since 2015 where they posted a 9-7 record in GAC play. Southern Arkansas looked to record one final victory on the season, but fell short, losing in four sets (25-18, 19-25, 21-25, 15-25) to the Ouachita Baptist Tigers at the W.T. Watson Center. Four seniors were recognized for senior night, including Kenadee Poye who seemed to be fueled by the emotion of her final game as a Mulerider as she went on to record a season-high 11 kills.
Poye accompanied Anna Crittenden (13 kills), Isla Olivas, (9 kills), Lauryn Moultrie (3 service aces) and Morgan Schuster (2 service aces) who also had impressive nights offensively. The Muleriders topped the Tigers in aces (9-3), but were otherwise outplayed offensively, with the Tigers 93 points topping the Muleriders 80 and 59 kills outnumbering SAU's 44. The Tigers committed 22 attack errors versus the Muleriders' 20.
Mulerider defense was piloted by Morgan Schuster, Sakura Thomas and Isla Olivas. Schuster notched 36 assists, Thomas recorded 18 digs and Olivas had 5.0 blocks. Crittenden, Schuster and Moultrie also recorded 3.0 blocks each while Landry Rogers had 10 digs, Schuster recorded 9 and Alexa Heard had 8. The Tigers just topped the Muleriders in digs, recording three more than SAU at 78. The Riders led with 4 block solos and 12 block assists versus the Tigers 1 solo and 2 assists.
The first set was a back and forth effort from the jump with both Arkansas teams battling to tie the score 12 times and change the lead three. The last time the score was tied was at 15s before Southern Arkansas went on an 11-4 run to come away with the first set. In the opening set alone, Crittenden recorded five kills, Poye had three, Thomas had notched seven digs, and Schuster recorded 11 helpers.
The Muleriders fell behind in set two, trailing 12-7 before they went on a 5-1 run to attempt to catch the Tigers. Ouachita refused to let the Muleriders take the lead and responded with a substantial run themselves. A final 3-0 run by the Muleriders left them just shy of the 20-point mark.
The teams went back to their first set roots and played another back and forth match, this time less dramatic with only seven tie scores but five lead changes. The third set saw SAU jump out to a quick 5-0 lead, however the Tigers responded with a 5-2 run to tie the match at 7s. The match stayed close, tying up one final time at 19 points before the Tigers went on a 6-2 run to take the third set and grab the lead.
The fourth set proved most difficult for the Muleriders despite the South Arkansas team being one point away from tying the match at multiple times towards the beginning of play. The Tigers started to pull away as soon as they breached 10 points and continued to leave SAU behind despite diligent efforts from every Mulerider. The Tigers used several large runs to hold the Muleriders at 19-14 and went on a final 6-1 run to close out the fourth and final set.
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