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HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – The memorable 2018 SWOSU Volleyball season was halted on Friday afternoon in the semifinals of the Great American Conference Tournament as Henderson State defeated the Bulldogs 3-1, with set scores of 23-25, 28-26, 20-25, 22-25.
 
The Bulldogs end the season with a record of 21-7, good for the second-most wins in program history but they are eliminated one game shy of the GAC Championship match for the second time in the past three years.
 
SWOSU fell behind early as Henderson State closed out the first set – which saw six lead changes – at 25-23 with their 18th kill of the set. The Reddies had at least 17 kills in each set, a number that SWOSU matched just once with 17 in the fourth. SWOSU did rally and tied the match at 1-1, overcoming a late 26-25 deficit with a kill from Danusia Sipa Borgeaud followed by a service ace by Kaitlyn Dillon at set point that ended it at 28-25.
 
The Bulldogs trailed throughout the third set, but got back within two on two occasions late in the set before HSU scored the final three points to put it away at 25-20 and push the Dawgs backs up against the wall. SWOSU came out swinging in the fourth set, building a 12-7 lead that forced the Reddies to call timeout and pushing ahead to 14-9 before the Reddies used a 5-0 spurt to not the score at 14-14. The score was tied at each point up until 18-all, when HSU got back-to-back blocks for their first separation of the set and pushed ahead and finished off the match at 25-22 after SWOSU battled off two match points.
 
During the fourth and deciding set, junior libero Kaitlyn Dillon recorded her 28th dig of the match and 1,786th of her career, which moved her past Kaila Lancaster (2012-15) and into the top spot for career digs at SWOSU. Dillon – the GAC Defensive Player of the Year – finished the match with 31 digs, which gives her 1,789 at the conclusion of her junior season. Her 621 digs during the 2018 season marks the third-most in program history and her league-leading 5.80 digs per set is a new single-season school record.
 
SWOSU was led offensively on Friday by Elizabeth McVicker, who finished with 17 kills – including 9 in the fourth set – while hitting an efficient .455 for the match. In her lone season with the Bulldogs, the GAC Newcomer of the Year ranked second on the team with 265 kills while posting the third-best single-season attack percentage mark in program history at .330.
 
Jenny Tackett continued her strong play at the tournament with 12 kills while Sofia Gruden added 11 kills on just 24 attempts without a hitting error. Gruden finishes her junior season with 191 kills and she set a new single-season school record for efficiency, posting a .353 attack percentage for the season. Gruden also added six block assists in the match, giving her 13 blocks (1 solo, 12 assist) in two matches at the GAC Tournament.
 
Allie Hoang posted another double-double, totaling 50 assists and 22 digs in the match. She ends her sophomore season three assists shy of 1,000 for the year, but she moved to 4th in career assists at SWOSU during the match with a two-year total of 1,330.
 
In addition to McVicker, five other seniors exhaust their eligibility following the 2018 season. Danusia Sipa Borgeaud totaled seven kills on Friday, ending her two-year stint at SWOSU ranked sixth in program history with 683 career kills. Klemson Lancaster added 15 digs to her career total, which sits at 777 and ranks 10th in program history. Kodee Avery had 12 digs along with one service ace against HSU and she graduates ranked fourth in program history for service aces (84) and sixth in assists (1,192).
 
Led by GAC Coach of the Year Josh Collins, the SWOSU Volleyball team had a memorable 2018 season. The Bulldogs reached the 20-win plateau for just the second time in program history and posted a program-best finish as they tied for second place in the GAC with a mark of 13-3 in conference matches. At the end of regular season play, the Bulldogs led the Great American Conference and ranked sixth in NCAA Division II in home attendance while posting a 6-1 record in matches played at the Pioneer Cellular Event Center.