SHREVEPORT, La. – In a final tune-up exhibition before the start of the season, the Ladies hit .481 in the first set and held the Reddies to a negative percentage for the match as Centenary knocked off Henderson State in straight sets 25-11, 25-18, 25-13 Wednesday night (August 29) in the Gold Dome.
Freshman Rachel Demerjian tallied a match best 34 assists while classmate Alyssa Davis hit .350 (eight kills and one error on 20 attempts). Senior Michaela Brantley hit .545 with six kills on 11 swings and no errors.
Junior Marissa Sandoval added 12 digs and four aces to lead Centenary in both categories.
With a slim 7-5 lead in set one, Centenary rattled off nine unanswered on junior Kristian Loving's serve to take a double-digit lead. Senior Hailey Lawson recorded a kill before Loving subbed into the match and stepped to the service line. Kills from Davis and Demerjian pushed the lead to five. After a pair of attack errors, Henderson State called timeout to try and stop the Ladies' momentum. However, another Davis kill and attack error pushed the lead to 14-5. Loving punctuated the run with a pair of aces.
In the first set alone, Centenary hit .481 with 15 kills and two errors on 27 swings.
Tied at eight in the second set, a Reddies' service error and kills from senior Shyann Pisano and Brantley quickly put the Ladies up three. With Centenary up 15-12, kills from senior Shannon Orlopp and Davis extended the lead to five. Pisano upped the lead to 19-12 on a pair of aces.
With Centenary up 24-16, Henderson State saved a pair of set points with a kill from Paxton Boyd and Madison Greene. However, Demerjian's set found Brantley for the kill to end the frame.
Boyd led Henderson State with six kills. Cicley Young added a match high 17 digs.
In the last set, Centenary used an 11-2 run to open a 19-8 lead. Henderson State added nine errors while hitting negative-.208 in the final set to end the match.
Centenary begins the season with a pair of matches at the Austin College Classic on Friday, August 31. The Ladies take on Concordia at 2 p.m. and Louisiana College at 4 p.m.