THE RUNDOWN
The Lady Patriots lost their second game of the Tiger Invitational Tournament to Henderson State in four sets. After splitting the first two sets with Henderson State, DBU lost the third set in a very close battle and couldn't regain momentum from there and would lose the fifth set 25-18. The box score reflects the outcome for this game, as Henderson State led DBU in almost all of the main statistical categories including kills, aces, assists, and digs. And it's always tough when a player on the other side ends the game with 20 kills, like Courtney Bolf was able to do. 

The first two sets of this match looked to be from two different games. The first set saw the Lady Reddies take an early lead of 7-2 and played a consistent game from there. DBU couldn't get the lead in the first set at all and lost the set 25-17. DBU turned things around in the second set by taking a quick 6-0 start and the roles were reversed as Henderson State couldn't get the lead at all in the second with DBU taking it 25-22.

The third set would go on to be the most important of the game. Whoever could win this one would have a lot of momentum moving forward. Things started out going back and forth for the two teams. Henderson State took a small lead early and DBU would have to play catch up for a majority of the set. Every time the Lady Patriots seemed to get in striking distance to take the lead the Lady Reddies would go on a quick run of their own and increase their lead. DBU eventually brought the lead down and were only trailing 21-24. After a kill by Strealy Sizelove, an error by Henderson State, and a block by Katie Nicholson and Kasey Holand the set was tied at 24-24. Unfortunately, DBU couldn't stop two kills in a row by Henderson State and would lose the set 26-24.

Going into the fourth set the Lady Patriots quickly showed their opponent they weren't going to lie down for them. They took a 5-2 lead to start the set, but Henderson State would tie the set back up at 8-8. Things stayed tight for awhile before Henderson State took a 19-18 lead. Then an impressive run by Henderson State would see them score six points in a row to win the set 25-18 and win the match 3-1.

THREE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW

• DBU spent the majority of this game trying to eliminate a lead held by HSU, but rarely had the lead in the three sets they lost.
• The third set would be the key to this game. The way the first two sets went it really appeared whoever could win the third set would win the game.
• Courtney Bolf of Henderson State played a huge role in the win with 20 kills and 18 digs.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
20- Henderson State finished with 20 more kills than DBU.
17- The Lady Patriots still showed good defensive skill with 17 blocks compared to HSU's 15.
8- Henderson State tallied eight aces while DBU ended with only three.

UP NEXT
The Lady Patriots will travel to Texas A&M-Commerce on Tuesday, September 12th before their first home game against Tarleton State on Thursday, September 14th.