Alva Review-Courier -

ALVA, Okla. — Henderson State fell behind 2-1 on the road to Northwestern Oklahoma State and trailed 13-9 in the fourth set, but with their backs against the wall, the Reddies answered, and rallied to defeat the Lady Rangers 3-2 (25-22, 17-25, 23-25, 25-22, 15-9) on Friday night.

SET ONE: The Lady Rangers took the first four points of the match and a 4-0 lead in the first set, but Henderson responded with a 10-3 run to grab an early 10-7 advantage. NWOSU eventually chipped away at the Reddies' lead and the set stayed close throughout, with ties at 19-19, 20-20, 21-21 and then 22-22. But with things knotted up at 22 apiece, the Reddies broke through on two Lady Ranger attack errors and an ace from Courtney Bolf, to take the first frame 25-22.

SET TWO: The second set started out promising for Henderson, as it raced out to a 9-3 lead and looked to take total control of the match. NWOSU had other plans, and used a 22-8 run over the rest of the period to erase the gap, sprint past HSU and tie things up at 1-1 with a 25-17 win.

SET THREE: In the critical third set, neither team could grab a lead of more than three kills through the first 30 points, but with the score 16-15 in the Lady Rangers favor, NWOSU put together a 5-2 spurt to grab a 21-17 lead and put itself on the verge of taking control. The Reddies would not go away, as they used kills from Bolf, Violet Williams and Zuzana Ondruskova, as well as two Lady Ranger attack errors, to take the next five points and seize a a 22-21 advantage. It would not last long, though, as NWOSU won four of the final five points in the set to win it 25-23 and go up 2-1 in the match.

SET FOUR: Now facing defeat and in a 2-1 hole, the Reddies found themselves down again in the early going of the fourth set, as the Lady Rangers raced out to a 13-9 lead and seemingly had a firm grasp on the match. HSU refused to go away quietly, however, and erased the NWOSU lead with a huge 10-1 run over the next 11 points to take a 19-14 advantage and steal back all the momentum in the match. The Lady Rangers had some fight left, and cut the lead down to just two at 23-21, but Henderson closed it out with kills from Ondruskova and Williams to take it 25-22 and send things to a deciding fifth set.

SET FIVE: The final set belonged to HSU from the get-go, as the Reddies buckled down and won six of the first eight points to race out to a 6-2 lead. Almost instantly facing a big climb back on its home court, NWOSU tried to rally, and cut the deficit to 9-7, but Henderson again had an answer, this time taking three straight points to seize a 12-7 advantage and push the Lady Rangers to the brink. NWOSU had one last gasp, and took two of the next three, but a kill from Karlie Greene and a Lady Ranger error ended things in the Reddies favor, 15-9, as they took the match in comeback fashion, 3-2.

GAME NOTES: Courtney Bolf and Sariah Boney each had a double-double for Henderson, as Bolf finished with 22 digs and 15 kills, and Boney tallied 28 assists and 27 digs. Adrianna Hartmann was big for the Reddies at the net all night and had a match-high six blocks, while Greene and Williams each had three. Ondruskova chipped in 15 kills to finish as the co-leader on the team with Bolf and Abby Blackburnadded 17 assists. Sydney Skelton had a season-high 32 digs in the win. NWOSU won most of the statistical categories as team over Henderson, but HSU had 11 blocks to the Lady Rangers' five and had three more digs in the match, 95-92. The win carries the Reddies to 11-12 overall and 4-6 in Great American Conference action.

UP NEXT: Henderson plays tomorrow, Oct. 21, at 1 p.m. in Weatherford, Oklahoma against Southwestern Oklahoma State.