VICTORY! Ladies Defeat Ozarks For Impressive SCAC Victory
The Centenary volleyball team won its first Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference match in four years on Sunday afternoon with an impressive 3-1 victory over the University of the Ozarks inside the Gold Dome.
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Shreveport – The Centenary volleyball team won its first Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference match in four years on Sunday afternoon with an impressive 3-1 victory over the University of the Ozarks inside the Gold Dome.
The Ladies (2-7, 1-2 SCAC) won the first set 25-23, were edged 25-21 in the second set, took set three 25-21, and closed out the victory 25-22 in set four. Centenary, which battled the Hendrix College Warriors through three competitive sets before falling 3-0 on Saturday, used that solid performance even in a loss into a breakthrough win on Sunday.
Sunday's victory was the Ladies' first SCAC victory since Oct. 9, 2021 when they defeated the University of St. Thomas 3-1. Following that win over the Celts four seasons ago was eight-straight league losses to end the season and then three winless seasons in conference play (2022-24) and Saturday's loss to Hendrix College making it 57 SCAC losses in a row before the win on Sunday.
Centenary finished with a .176 kill percentage for the match (50 kills and 24 errors in 148 total attacks) as it was the Ladies' second-best kill % of the season behind the .264 in a season-opening win over Wiley University on Aug. 30. Ozarks finished at .164 with 44 kills and 20 errors in 146 total attacks.
The Ladies finished with 15 kills and eight assists in 39 total attacks (.179) in set one, nine kills and just three errors in 29 total attacks in the second set (.207- their best kill % in a set on Sunday), 10 kills and six errors in 30 TA's in the third set, and finished with 16 kills and seven errors in 50 TA's (.180) in the fourth and final set.
The Ladies recorded season highs in digs (71), assists (44) and their 50 kills were also a season best. They added 12 service aces, their second-most to the 22 posted against Wiley last month. The Eagles finished with 63 digs, 44 kills, 39 assists, seven aces, and three solo blocks.
Ladies' Statistical Leaders:
Aces: Sophomore S Jadyn Harris (Fort Worth, Texas) – 7
Assists: Harris – 19
Digs: Freshman OH/DS Zoe Garcia (Magnolia, Texas) – 15
Kills: Garcia – 12
Harris had a superb overall match as her 19 assists are a season high and she added a season-high 14 digs, season-best eight kills, and a pair of block assists. Her seven aces are tied for the third-most in a match in program history in the division III era (2011-present) and she finished with a .211 kill % with only four errors in 19 total attacks and her 14 digs were second in the match behind Garcia's 15.
Garcia matched Harris' stellar play as she tallied a season-high 15 digs, nearly matched her season-high in kills (14) with her 12, and had double-digit digs and kills in a match for the first time this season. Garcia finished the weekend with 23 digs, 19 kills, and three aces in the Ladies' conference contests versus Hendrix and Ozarks.
Junior OH/DS Destiny Labbe (Eunice, La.) was impressive on Sunday with a season-high 11 kills, 10 digs, and three aces and junior S/DS Hannah Dimmel (Navasota, Texas) had a season-high eight digs and matched season highs in assists (2), kills (1), and aces (1). Freshman DS/L Isela Castillo (Arlington, Texas) had a season-high seven digs and sophomore MB Laijah Rockward (Houma, La.) had six kills, two digs, an ace, and one assist.
Freshman MB Aley Dixon (White Oak, Texas) finished with a season-high six kills, a dig, and one assist, freshman DS/S Elizabeth Castillo (Austin, Texas) chipped in a pair of assists and a dig, and freshman OH Bella Baker (White Oak, Texas) recorded five digs, five kills (both season bests) and an assist. Freshman S Lillian Mycke (Athens, Texas) had 17 assists, second in the match to Harris' 19, and tied her season high in digs with eight.
The Eagles led 10-5 in the first set and stretched that to 19-10 and eventually 21-13 and seemed to be headed toward a set win, but a furious 9-0 rally by the Ladies gave them a 22-21 lead. The 9-0 run by the Ladies included a pair of timeouts taken by the frustrated Eagles, four aces by Harris, a pair of kills by Garcia, and kills from Dixon and Harris.
Ozarks scored the next two points to take back the lead at 23-22 but a clutch kill by Baker re-tied the score at 23-23, a kill by Garcia made it 24-23 and set point for the Ladies and an attack error by Ozarks' Arianna Gomez gave the Ladies the 25-23 set win.
The Eagles jumped out to a 7-3 lead in the second set and stretched it to 16-9, but the Ladies earned seven of the next 12 points to trim their deficit to 21-16 and then scored two points in a row to inch even closer at 21-18. Ozarks, however, withstood Centenary's rally to eventually win the set 25-21.
The third set featured four early ties and four lead changes before the Ladies took a 4-4 tie to a 13-5 lead and then led 15-6. But the Eagles rallied and scored the next five points to make it 15-11 and halt the Ladies' momentum. However, Centenary responded with three points in a row to lead 18-11 but those were answered by three-consecutive Ozarks points to make it 18-14. The teams traded points and then the Ladies scored the next three to lead 22-15 after an ace by Labbe. Two points for each team followed to make it 24-17 as the Ladies were on the verge of closing the set out, but the Eagles delayed that with four points in a row to make it 24-21, but Garcia then recorded a winning kill to give the Ladies a 25-21 set victory.
The fourth and final set featured two early ties, a late tie, and multiple rallies by both teams with excitement throughout. Ozarks led 8-4 but Centenary rattled off three-straight points to trail just 8-7, but three points in a row by the visitors made it 11-7.
A Gomez kill gave the Eagles a 22-20 lead as they were just three points away from forcing a decisive fifth set, but the Ladies would not be denied as consecutive kills by Labbe and Garcia tied it at 22-22 and an attack error followed to give the Ladies a 23-22 lead and prompted an Ozarks timeout as the supportive home crowd delighted in the comeback. Labbe followed with an ace to move to match point and Garcia, set up by Mycke, hammered a winning kill to clinch the set and the match and the celebration ensued.
The Ladies will hit the road next weekend for three league matches in a conference divisional hosted by Texas Lutheran University in Seguin, Texas.
See the complete Ladies' 2025 season schedule here: https://gocentenary.com/sports/wvball/2025-26/schedule
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Team Stats
Ozarks (Ark.)
| Game Statistics | Ozarks (Ark.) | Centenary (La.) |
|---|---|---|
| Hitting % | .164 | .176 |
| Blocks | 5.0 | 3.0 |
| Digs | 63 | 71 |
| Aces | 7 | 12 |
