Todd Ryals

Wildcats Swept on First Day of Crossover

9/22/2017 5:54:00 PM

By: LC Sports Information

Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

The season of firsts continued on Friday afternoon for the Louisiana College volleyball team as they competed in their first American Southwest Conference crossover event. The Wildcats faced off with the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor and Howard Payne University on the first day of the event, falling to the Cru and Yellow Jackets in straight sets 3-0. LC finishes the first crossover Saturday evening as they take on Hardin-Simmons University at 5:30 p.m. from Longview, TX.

The Wildcats came out strong in the first set of the day against the Cru, taking a 3-1 lead thanks to a kill from Paris Babino and two UMHB attack errors. The two teams seemed evenly matched through the next several point, with the Wildcats trailing 7-6 after a kill from Zharian Maxmillion. That was the point however when the Cru began to take control of the set as they scored four straight points and made a run of 8-3 to take a 15-9 lead before an LC timeout. The Wildcats bounced back, as they have done many times through the season, and made it a three point set at 15-12, but Mary Hardin-Baylor wouldn't let the rally last any longer and produced another string of points, finishing the set on a 10-6 run at 25-18.

The Cru carried their momentum right into the second set taking a quick 9-0 lead on the Cats before Jaslyn Bright was finally able to find a kill to break the streak. The Wildcats would not be able to respond this time however, as nine errors, including seven attack errors, led to a 25-7 Cru win in the second stanza. Eight more errors in the third ser, six of them attack errors, put the Wildcats in another tough position as UMHB had two stretches each of five and four consecutive points to cruise to a 25-10 third set win and a 3-0 match victory.

Jaslyn Bright finished with five kills for the Wildcats and Sadi Jones added four. Paris Babino had 15 assists, her sixth straight match with double digit assists, and Olivia Huval had nine digs.

After a short break, the Wildcats took back to the court to take on the Howard Payne Yellow Jackets in their second match of the day. Things began slowly for LC as HPU jumped out to a 9-2 lead thanks to four service aces during that stretch. Down 13-6 later in the match, the Wildcats fought back to within four thanks to some help from HPU and a kill from Sadi Jones to make the score 13-9. That would be as close as they would get the rest of the way however as Howard Payne scored nine straight points with the score 16-12 to win set one 25-12.

The Wildcats responded quickly in the second set taking an early lead, going ahead 4-3 on a kill from Mary Nichols. The Jackets then made another run long run, going in front with seven straight points before a service error ended the run. The Wildcats worked their way back within a couple but the six-point deficit was too much to overcome in the second set and HPU finished with a 25-17 victory.

The final set of the match for the Wildcats was their best of the day. Going back and forth through the majority of the start of the frame, the Wildcats found themselves down 13-8, but as they have shown time and time again, kept fighting. A kill from libero Olivia Huval began the rally for the Wildcats as they rattled off eight straight points, their longest string of the season, to take a 16-13 lead on the Jackets. Five kills from five different players, including Huval's starter, and an ace from Paris Babino highlighted the Wildcats run.

The Wildcats held the three-point lead at 18-15, but another Yellow Jacket stretch put them back on top and back in control of the match. HPU scored the next six points to take the late lead and although LC scored four of the final seven points of the match, Howard Payne secured the 25-21 set and match victory.

Jaslyn Bright and Sadi Jones were almost equal on kills in the second match as well finishing with seven and six respectively. Paris Babino extended her double-digit assist streak with 19 against HPU while adding 11 digs. Libero Olivia Huval ended with 15 digs in the match.

The Wildcats finish their first ASC crossover on Saturday evening as they take on Hardin-Simmons University at 5:30 pm from Solhiem Arena on the campus of LeTourneau University. Live stat and video links will be available courtesy of LeTourneau and will be accessible via lcwildcats.net. For the latest on Louisiana College volleyball follow @LC_wvolleyball on Twitter or like them on Facebook.

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