WHITEWATER, Wis. – Hardin-Simmons' Cowgirl volleyball team finished a weekend trip at UW-Whitewater with two matches on Saturday, going down to UW-Stevens Point 3-2 and Carroll (WI) 3-1.
 
The Cowgirls dropped the final two games of the Whitewater tournament to the Carroll Pioneers and the UWSP Pointers, a team that qualified for the NCAA tournament in 2024.
 
HSU went down 3-2 to UWSP in sets of 23-25, 25-13, 26-24, 18-25, and 15-7. The Cowgirls hit well in the sets they won and the third set that they lost by two, with 12, 14, and 13 kills in the first, third, and fourth sets, respectively. Hardin-Simmons struggled in the second and final sets, with just nine and four kills, going down 3-2 to UWSP.
 
Liz Keidl led with 12 kills while Leigh Jespersen and Rachel Nordt had 11 kills each in the match. Jespersen had a double-double with 21 digs, which led the Cowgirls. She also had a career-high with six aces for the Cowgirls in five sets.
 
Ari Villanueva collected 20 digs for a season-high mark on defense and Allison O'Shaughnessy led with 21 assists.  
 
Gabby Jones led the team with six blocks, Abbi Allen had five blocks, and Avery Tumlinson finished with four blocks for HSU.
 
The Cowgirls took the first set against the Carroll Pioneers before going down 3-1 with set scores of 15-25, 25-19, 25-15, and 25-19. The game had good offense from both teams as the Cowgirls hit .209 with only 22 attack errors. The Pioneers had an even better game, with a .248 attack percentage and just 15 attack errors, with only seven errors combined in the final three sets, all of which Carroll won.
 
Keidl had a season-best 16 kills to lead HSU, hitting .324 with only four errors in the game. Jespersen finished with 12 kills and 21 digs for a second double-double on the day. Abbi Allen had a career-high nine blocks against Carroll.
 
Villanueva and Kat Martinez had 17 and 15 digs, respectively, and Keatyn Rodgers had 25 assists against Carroll.
 
The Cowgirls fell to 13-6 after some great matchups at Whitewater and will return to Texas to take on Mary Hardin-Baylor in Belton on Thursday, Oct. 23 at 6 p.m. for an ASC match.
 
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