Lions Fall to Henderson State in Five
Henderson State closed out the match with an 8-0 run in the fifth and deciding set to seal a come-from-behind win over host Texas A&M University-Commerce on Thursday afternoon.
HSU (4-1) rallied from a two-set deficit for the victory, winning the match by scores of 21-25, 25-22, 15-22, 25-18, 15-7. Robin Law had a match-high 27 digs and 18 kills in the win to pace the Lady Reddies.
A&M-Commerce (3-2) had three players with double-digit kills in the loss, including two with double double performances as freshman Kayla Bond had 11 kills and 10 digs and senior Naomi Mays had 11 kills and 15 digs. Leading the attack for the Lions was sophomore Rachel Robertson, who had a team-high 12 kills.
The two teams were tied at 15 in the opening set until A&M-Commerce scored two points on a pair of HSU attack errors provided enough cushion en route to the opening set victory. It marks the fourth time in five matches that the Lions have won the first set.
In the second set, Henderson State rallied back and led from start-to-finish. Law led the attack with five kills and forced the Lions to hit .030 for the set to even the match at a set apiece at the intermission.
Following an A&M-Commerce timeout in the third set, leading 17-12, the Lions scored eight of the next 11 points. Four of the points came on the serve of freshman Haley Richburg and two kills by freshman Jordan Neal.
With a 2-1 advantage, the Lady Reddies came back in the fourth set to tie the match at two sets each. With the set tied at 13, HSU scored six of the next seven points to take a 19-14 lead. During the run, the Lady Reddies took advantage of two attack errors by the Lions and a service ace by Ariel Smith. Ashley Totten closed out the set with back-to-back service aces to send the contest into a fifth and deciding set.
In the fifth set, with the Lions holding a 5-3 advantage, Henderson State called a timeout. The Lady Reddies responded with back-to-back kills and capitalized on two attack errors by A&M-Commerce en route to the 15-7 win and match victory.
The Lions will return to action on Friday at the 2010 TexAnn Invitational, starting with a 3 pm tilt against Texas-Permian Basin and wrapping up the day with an 8 pm contest against St. Mary's.
