Southeastern Outlasted in Five Sets at SAU 3-2

MAGNOLIA, Ark. – Southeastern and Southern Arkansas battled for five sets and saw two frames go to extra points, but a late rally in the fifth by the Savage Storm would fall short with the Muleriders winning 3-2.
 
Maci Morrison paced the side with 14 kills on a .444 attack average and was one of four players to reach double-digit kills. Faith Kruebbe and Gabby Jones tied for 13 kills each, and Noelia Rocha would chip in 10. Jones would also add a season-high 23 digs for a double, while Riley McFarland saw her second double-double in consecutive matches with 33 assists and 21 digs. Kylee Turner led the Storm with 36 digs, and Merrick Hammel would chip in another 14 digs.
 
Southeastern (6-11, 1-5 GAC) continues its road trip in the Natural State tomorrow against Arkansas-Monticello at 4 p.m.
 
SET ONE
The Storm and Muleriders were back and forth to start the set, and a quick burst of points for SAU gave them a 15-11 lead. SE replied with a 5-0 run started by a Rocha kill and capped off by another from Jones to give the Storm a 16-15 edge. Like SE, Southern Arkansas answered with a flurry of points to regain the lead, but another 5-0 run for Southeastern pushed them back in front 24-23. The Storm soon found themselves down 24-23 and would battle back with three straight points for a 27-25 win.
 
SET TWO
A fast start from the hosts saw the Storm trailing the Muleriders 13-4, which later grew to 22-10. After weathering the Mulerider charge, Southeastern strung together scores to trim the gap to eight, but the late push would fall short with Southern Arkansas winning the second frame 25-16.
 
SET THREE
Set three would be another closely contested frame, with it coming down to extra points to decide a winner. The set was tied 4-all before a 4-0 run by the Muleriders gave them the first edge in the set, and they would hold this advantage to 14-9. The Storm used a 4-0 run started by a kill from Kruebbe to tie the set 14-14, and moments later, another kill by Morrison kept the set at 17-all.
 
Southern Arkansas pushed back ahead 22-20, but three points by SE tied the frame again at 24-all, and two straight kills by Alexis Williams gave Southeastern a 26-25 edge. However, a late charge from the hosts secured a 28-26 win for SAU.
 
SET FOUR
The Savage Storm opened with a 5-3 lead and a 4-1 burst for SE extended its advantage to 10-7. The two sides traded points from there before a 3-0 flurry by SAU tied the set at 13-all. SE and the Muleriders remained back and forth, and a 4-0 run with two kills by Rocha gave the Storm a 22-21 lead. Southeastern kept the momentum up, ending the set with three of the final four points to force a deciding set five, 25-23.
 
SET FIVE
Southeastern and Southern Arkansas were tied 3-3 to begin the final set before the Muleriders surged ahead to an 8-3 lead. Following the slow start, Southeastern found its footing again, closing the gap to three, 11-9, but the gap would prove to be too much, as SAU held on for a 15-11 set win.