ARKADELPHIA, Ark. – Southeastern opened the day with a five-set win over Henderson State that clinched a berth in the conference tournament, but ended the day with a sour taste after a 3-0 loss in a non-conference matchup against Alabama-Huntsville on Friday evening with both matches in Arkadelphia, Ark.
The Savage Storm moves to 12-10 overall on the season and 6-3 in Great American Conference play heading into a non-conference contest at Ouachita Baptist at 10 a.m. on Saturday morning.
Despite HSU being winless in conference play SE found itself having to rally from a 2-0 deficit after the Reddies took the first set 27-25 and the second set 25-16.
The Storm would return to its recent form from then on taking the third set 25-15 and the fourth 25-16 before winning the clincher 15-11 to complete the rally and pick up its fourth five-set win of the season in its seventh five-set match played.
SE was paced by
Julia Benford who turned in a match-high 21 kills, hitting .526 for the match with five errors on 31 attempts.
Megan Kunkel finished with 14 kills and
Ariel Sanders was right behind with 13.
Alissa Benson dished out a team-best 38 assists in the match, while
Madelynne Cera added 17.
Kunkel completed the double-double with a team-high 18 digs, while
Emily Gentle added 16, Benson added 12 and
Courtney Miller and
Charlene Nerio each chipped in 11.
Sanders led the defense at the net with six blocks.
In the second match Gentle and Benford each posted 10 kills, while Sanders just missed double-figures with nine.
Benson dished out 35 assists while adding three kills, 10 digs and a block.
Gentle and Nerio posted 13 digs each, while Benson and Kunkel added 10 apiece.
Sanders would add another six blocks in the match.
UAH jumped out to a lead with a 25-16 win in the first set.
SE nearly evened the score, but the Chargers held on for a 27-25 win in the second set and would hand the Storm a 25-22 loss in the third set to complete the sweep.
