By OAKLEE FIELDER
Kaylah Thomas prepares to serve against Southwestern on Oct 1 in Percefull Fieldhouse.
The Lady Rangers took down Henderson State and lost to Ouachita Baptist this week as they win their first conference game against the Reddies.
Northwestern has been struggling as they have not won a game since the Rosella Meier UNK Fall Classic in mid-September. This week, that losing streak has ended after they took down Henderson State at home in Percefull Fieldhouse.
The game started with back-and-forth action as they traded points ending with the Lady Rangers up 5-3. Then, Henderson went on a six-point run to take the lead 9-5. Then the two teams went back and forth and eventually, by slowly reeling in the Reddies, the Lady Rangers took the lead by one. Just as fast as Northwestern took the lead, the Reddies took the lead again. The Rangers were unable to hold onto the Reddies, and Henderson took set one by five 25-20.
Set two started with a short run from the Reddies after the Rangers scored one. With the score 5-1, the Lady Rangers scored twice to close the gap, but Henderson scored three in response. Following in pattern, Northwestern then went on a 10-3 run to make it a 13-11 game. The two teams fought hard as neither of them scored more than four in a row after that run. The game was tied at 19 when Henderson scored two. Northwestern responded with three, followed by a Henderson point, tying it at 22. Northwestern scored three points against Henderson’s one after the tie at 22, giving the Lady Rangers set two.
The next two sets were not anywhere close compared to the two sets before. The Lady Rangers went on a 12-point tear midway through the third set to give them a lead of eight, 19-11. The Reddies were unable to recover from that large run the Lady Rangers had, and Northwestern took set three.
Set four wasn’t as aggressive from either team, as they traded points back and forth. While the teams were battling, the Lady Rangers were slowly earning a lead. The lead would slowly grow by the end of the final set, ending with a win for Northwestern 25-16. The set win ended the match, with Northwestern taking the win 3-1.
Ivanny Blackwood had the most kills in the game with 17. Celia Mbaya and Tess De Zanet both had 11. De Zanet also recorded two blocks. Ryann Eastes had 45 assists and 15 digs. Jadyn Padilla had 22 digs and four assists. Kemelly Baez Miecznikoski had five blocks.
The game against the other Arkadelphia twin, Ouachita Baptist, did not go as well for the Lady Rangers as they lost the match 3-0.
Despite losing every set, the Lady Rangers gave a good fight throughout the match. None of the sets had an ending score of more than six.
In set one, the Tigers got out to a great start, giving them a 5-1 lead. Eventually, the Lady Rangers reeled them back into a 13-12 difference between the teams. Ouachita Baptist responded by increasing their lead again, but the Lady Rangers swung back and made it a close match at the end. Unfortunately, the Tigers’ lead was just too much for Northwestern, and Ouachita took set one 25-20.
Set two was a lot closer, but started in another fall from Northwestern. The Lady Rangers dropped the start and were down 5-1. Northwestern then put together a run to reel in the Tigers to make it a tie game at 10. The two teams proceeded to battle, throwing punches and tugging at the lead. Ouachita seemed to put the set in the bag by making it a 22-20 game as set two was in its twilight. Then, the Lady Rangers put together a small quick run to make it 24-22 over the Tigers. Ouachita stumbled, but picked themselves back up and scored four straight to take the win in set two over Northwestern 26-24.
The final set did not go as well for the Lady Rangers. It started with another tug-of-war for the lead, but then the Tigers went on an 8-1 run to take the lead 11-5. The Tigers slowly but surely kept extending their lead, and eventually went on a short run to make it 20-15. Northwestern fought back, but the Tigers put the game to bed and swept the Lady Rangers in their match.
Baez Micznikoski had 13 kills and three blocks against Ouachita Baptist. Blackwood had 11 kills and two blocks. Eastes had 28 assists and 1 ace. Andrea Djordjevic had 14 digs, two blocks and one ace.
Next on the Lady Ranger schedule is Harding University. They will play on Thursday night in Searcy, Arkansas. Northwestern is 10th in the Great American Conference standings.