Box Score
Box Score (html)
MAGNOLIA, Ark. – With her team in the midst of a four-game winless streak, SWOSU junior
Joey Collins rose up to the challenge and made sure the streak would not get to five. Collins put down a career-high 22 kills and helped the Bulldogs to a 3-1 victory over Southern Arkansas on Friday night by scores of 26-24, 20-25, 26-24, 25-20.
SWOSU came from behind late in the first set, scoring three straight points after facing a 24-23 deficit, and took the early lead with a 26-24 set win. Southern Arkansas tied it up with a 25-20 effort in the second set, which they led throughout.
The Muleriders built a 24-20 advantage in the third set and were on the verge of taking control of the match until a fierce rally by the Bulldogs.
Alison Cole had three kills and assisted on a block with Collins and
Christina Darras added a kill as SWOSU battled back and scored six straight points to win the set 26-24.
While she was already having a strong match through three sets, Collins took over the match in the fourth set. She put down eight kills with just one error in 10 attempts – a staggering hitting percentage of .700 for the set – and made sure there would be no Southern Arkansas rally. SWOSU kept the pedal down and finished off the Muleriders 25-20 to win the match.
Collins finished the match with 22 kills, the third-most kills in a match in SWOSU history and the most ever in a four-set match. She also set a new career-high with 60 attack attempts and finished with eight errors for a .233 hitting percentage for the match. Collins was also one dig shy of recording her fifth double-double of the season.
Several other Bulldogs performed well in the effort.
Carly Zak tied her career high with 16 kills and Cole put down 14 while hitting at a .423 clip, the second-highest by a Bulldog this season. As a team, SWOSU finished with a season-high 60 kills and a hitting percentage .174.
Saasha Jacobson and
Kaila Lancaster each had 15 digs for SWOSU while
Kenya Williams added 14. The two-setter system of
Brandy Mader and
Breann Whitaker proved to be successful for the Bulldogs as Mader had 28 assists and Whitaker 26.
The win improves SWOSU to 5-10 on the year and evens their record to 2-2 in Great American Conference action. They will attempt to climb over .500 in GAC action tomorrow morning when they take on Arkansas-Monticello at 11 a.m.
