Arkadelphia, Ark- The Rangers continued their road trip Friday evening with a match against Henderson State. Northwestern took advantage of winning the middle of the game, taking sets two and three before closing the game out in set five to win 3-2 over the Reddies Friday.

Northwestern improves to 2-4 in conference play and 6-13 overall on the season following the win Friday.

"Very proud of how we have responded this week. Most of the credit goes to Kaydee Honeycutt who has truly stepped up as our leader; the rest of the credit goes to the entire team who refuses to finish the season the way we started. This is a great group of women and I'm so proud to Coach them. Lastly, we couldn't have won tonight without Coach Piekarski and the entire women's soccer team for their amazing support!!!" stated head coach Fred Aubuchon.

Kaydee Honeycutt led the Red-and-Black in kills with 16, followed by Addison Wimmer and Courtney Russell with 12 and 10, respectively. Abigail Burns finished with 25 assists, followed by Abby Davis with 24 on the evening. Tarra Parks led the team with 32 digs, followed by 18 for Wimmer for her ninth double-double on the season. Davis had 17 digs for a double-double along with Wimmer. Carmae Jones led the team with seven blocks on the evening, followed by Courtney Russell with 14.

Set 1:

The Reddies opened the scoring Friday evening off a kill before the two teams would trade point for point. Ravyn Burns would get even the score, and the first set was even at five. Henderson would rally for five straight points for a 10-5 lead over the Rangers following a kill from Wimmer, forcing a Ranger timeout. The Reddies would then hold a 12-6 lead over the Rangers. Dehlinger would end the run for one of her four kills in the opening set. Northwestern would continue to try and force their way back in the set with a couple of 2-0 runs, but Henderson State would match the runs to build a 17-10 lead forcing a second Ranger timeout. Northwestern would pick up the first two points out of the timeout and would cut the deficit to five following a Wimmer serve. The Reddies answered to bring their lead back to 24-19 before closing the first set 25-20 to take a 1-0 match lead over the Rangers.

Set 2:

Looking to answer back, Northwestern took the first point of the second set on a block from Ravyn Burns. The second set would feature three ties in the opening six points before the Rangers took a 6-3 lead in a block from Carmae Jones. The Reddies answered with a small run to tie the set, but a kill by Russell would stop the Reddies' run and give the Rangers the lead back. A Honeycutt kill assisted by Abigail Burns pushed the lead back to 10-8 as the Rangers made their run, rattling off three straight points to push the Rangers lead to 13-9. Northwestern would get back-to-back blocks by Jones and Russell. A Wimmer kill would give Northwestern a 19-13 lead forcing a Reddies timeout. Northwestern would take their largest lead of the second set at seven with a 20-13 lead on a serve from Abigail Burns, forcing a Reddie error. A Honeycutt kills to set up the set point as Jones would end the set with a kill to win the set 25-19 to even the match at 1-1.

Set 3:

The Red-and-Black looked to carry the momentum into the third set with the first two points of the third set as Wimmer started the serves. Northwestern would open a 4-1 lead. Henderson State would take the following couple points before a Jones kill would end the run to take the lead back to 6-3. The Reddies would climb back to even the match at 7-7 on a service ace. Northwestern would answer back with four straight points to take an 11-7 lead back and force a Henderson State timeout. Rangers would receive a kill from Dehlinger, and multiple errors by the Reddies following a Burns serve. Northwestern would continue to force their hand, taking a 17-10 lead following a Honeycutt block. Henderson State would attempt to climb back in the set with a run cutting the Rangers deficit to three at 20-17 on a block by Russell and Burns. Henderson State would tie the set at 22-22, forcing a Ranger's timeout. Straight out of the timeout, Northwestern would rattle home three straight points to take the third set 25-22 with a Russell kill, giving the Rangers a 2-1 match lead.

Set 4:

The fourth set started back and forth with the Rangers and Reddies even at four apiece. Henderson would rattle off four straight points to take the lead back, looking to even the match at 2-2. The Henderson State lead would build an 11-4 lead after five straight points. A Honeycutt kill would cut the Reddies' lead to three points following a 4-0 Ranger run. Henderson State would take a 16-10 lead, though, following the Ranger run answering back. A block by Jones and Russell would cut the deficit back down to three at 16-13. Henderson State took six of the following seven points in the set to take a 22-14 lead over the Rangers before closing it out at 25-16, forcing a decisive fifth set.

Set 5:

The fifth set was extremely close like the rest of the match, with each team trading point for a point following the 3-3 tie. Northwestern opened the set to take a 3-1 lead followed by a Honeycutt kill. Nobody could find any type of breathing room as the teams would trade point for point throughout the entirety of the fifth set. The fifth set would feature 13 ties throughout set five. The Reddies had their lone lead in the fifth set with a 5-4 lead as a Wimmer kill; even the score back at five as a Stute serve forced a Reddie error giving the Rangers their lead back. The teams would trade points all the way to a 14-14 score before Northwestern would close the set out on a serve from Parks forcing a Henderson State error. Northwestern would win the fifth set 16-14 and take the match 3-2 over the Reddies.

The Rangers will be back in action Saturday afternoon at 1 PM in Arkadelphia for a match against Ouachita Baptist to close out the road trip before returning home on Friday and Saturday.

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