DUBUQUE, Iowa – Huston-Tillotson University's volleyball team opened play at the Clarke University Home Tournament in Iowa on Friday, facing the host institution and Indiana–Northwest in back-to-back matches.
The Rams (1-5) played a hard-fought, four-set setback against Clarke in the event's 3 p.m. match, then immediately faced Indiana–Northwest in the 5 p.m. match.
HT concludes play Saturday with two more back-to-back matches, against Waldorf (Iowa) at 3 p.m. and a rematch against Clarke at 5 p.m.
CLARKE 3, HT RAMS 1
Two of the four sets in HT's opening match were decided by the minimal two points, with the Rams victorious in set two.
Scores of the match were 25-14, 23-25, 25-16, and 26-24.
HT sophomore
Addilynn Webb led the Rams with 10 kills, followed by nine kills from freshman
Brandi Edmonds. Sophomore
Malaya Bennett led the defensive effort with 17 digs, while junior
Aniyah Asberry tallied 16 digs.
Jordis Taylor and
Madison Herrera rotated in the setter position, with 16 assists and 13 assists, respectively.
Set two was a back-and-forth contest that saw the Rams win four of the last five points to tie the match at one set apiece.
Lindsey Morris and Edmonds each had a kill during that stretch along with a pair of Clarke attack errors.
In set four, Clarke used a 6-1 run late to take 21-18 lead, but that was countered by HT scoring four of the next five points to tie the set at 22-22. The teams then exchanged kills on their serve receive until the host Pride took the last two points.
Clarke, a member institution of the Heart of America Athletic Conference, was led by Kortney Harms' 16 kills.
INDIANA–NORTHWEST 3, HT RAMS 0
With little time to rest before their second match, the Rams gave Indiana–Northwest a tough first set before falling in three sets.
Scores of the match were 25-22, 25-14, and 25-14.
Freshmen Edmonds and
Jada Arkadie tallied seven kills apiece for the Rams. Asberry recorded 14 digs, while Taylor handed out nine assists.
Amie Schutz' 10 kills led Indiana–Northwest, a Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference program.
– HT –