Reddies aim for Battle of the Ravine sweep

ARKADELPHIA -- Henderson State's volleyball team will travel across the street tonight to look for the program's first season sweep of Ouachita Baptist since 2010.

Tonight's Battle of the Ravine match is set for 6 p.m.

Henderson (22-4, 10-2 Great American Conference) is riding a three-match winning streak without dropping a set, including a straight-set victory on Thursday against Arkansas Tech (15-9, 8-4). The win gave the Reddies their first sweep of the Golden Suns since 2004.

The first Battle of the Ravine match of the season on Sept. 18 went to five sets after Henderson rallied from a 2-1 deficit at the Duke Wells Center.

Ouachita Baptist (19-7, 8-4) followed the match with eight straight victories, including six straight in the GAC, until a three-set defeat on Thursday at Harding (18-7, 11-1). Henderson's only conference losses this season are to Harding and Southwestern Oklahoma State (18-5, 11-2), which are currently the top two teams in the GAC standings.

Henderson sits in third place with just four regular season league matches remaining. Ouachita is two matches back, tied with Arkansas Tech for fourth.

Both teams have clinched berths to the 2018 GAC Volleyball Championships tournament, which will be held Nov. 8-10 at the Hot Springs Convention Center's Bank OZK Arena.

Junior outside hitter Courtney Bolf, out of North Crowley High School in Fort Worth, Texas, led the Reddies with 23 kills and 22 digs when the Reddies defeated the Tigers in September, 24-26, 25-21, 15-25, 27-25, 15-10.

Junior middle blocker Adrianna Hartmann, from Fredericksburg, Texas, had a season-high 16 kills; senior outside hitter Zuzana Ondruskova, from the Czech Republic, notched a career-best 24 digs; junior libero Gigi Garramone, from Valor Christian High School in Highlands Ranch, Colo., had a career night with 39 digs; and setters Abby Blackburn, a sophomore out of Blue Valley High School in Kansas, and Taylor Scalzi, a freshman out of Liberty Christian School in Texas, combined for 65 assists and 30 digs.

Bolf has a team-best 315 kills, Garramone has 360 digs, and junior Karlie Greene, of Spring, Texas, has made 98 blocks. Scalzi leads the Reddies with 478 assists.

Ouachita has lost one match at home this season, a five-set defeat to Harding in September.

The Tigers are led by floor-general Stormi Leonard, a senior setter from Decatur, Texas. Leonard is one of two GAC players with more than 1,000 assists this season. She set the GAC record for career assists earlier in the season.

Ouachita's main offensive weapon is junior Adrianna Nolly, out of Lake Dallas High School in Texas, who ranks third in the GAC with 3.52 kills per set. Nolly has 348 kills and 112 blocks this season.

Sophomore libero Julianna Mack, out of Pulaski Academy, has made 457 digs.

Sports on 10/23/2018

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