Southeastern Falls in Five-Sets to HSU

DURANT, Okla. – After jumping to a 2-0 lead in the match, Southeastern was unable to close out the third set and saw Henderson State rally to hand the Savage Storm a 3-2 loss on Saturday afternoon in Bloomer Sullivan Gymnasium.
 
The loss drops SE to 8-13 on the year overall and 1-8 in Great American Conference play heading into a seven-match road swing which begins on Oct. 18 with an out of conference matchup with Dallas Baptist at 6 p.m. in Dallas, Texas.
 
The Storm used a 5-0 run late in the first set to open up a 21-15 lead an won the opener 25-20.
 
A 9-2 run in the second would stretch a small SE lead into a 23-14 advantage and the Storm would push its advantage to 2-0 with a 25-18 win.
 
Southeastern took the lead early in the third set and led by four points at 16-12 before a 7-1 run would put the Reddies up 19-17.
 
The Storm would rally and knot the match at 20-20 on a Karine Cavalcante kill and an HSU error.
 
The score would slide back and forth with the Reddies holding set point at 25-24 before a Julia Benford kill followed by another HSU error would put the Storm up 26-25 and serving for match point.
 
However, HSU would score the next three points to steal the set 28-26.
 
The Reddies jumped to a 6-1 lead out of the gate in the fourth set and SE was never able to mount a rally, dropping the set 25-10 to even the match at 2-2.
 
The Storm took an early 5-0 lead in the fifth set on a Benford kill, but HSU would rally to tie the match at 5-5.
 
SE would go up 6-5, but the Reddies would take five of the next six points to open up a 12-8 lead and hold of a Southeastern rally to take the final set 15-10.
 
A trio of big hitters led the way for the Storm as Cavalcante finished with a team-high 18, while Abby Jameson and Benford added 16 each.
 
Alissa Benson dished out 51 assists, passing the 50-assist plateau for the second time this season, while also stepping up on defense with seven blocks and nine digs.
 
Benford was the star of the defense at the net with a season-high 10 blocks, while Benson added seven and Cavalcante was in on three.  As a team the Storm held a 14-to-4 edge in team blocks.
 
Caitlin Cosby led all back row defenders again with 21 digs on the match, while Erika Costain added 14.