MONTICELLO, Ark. | The Grambling State University volleyball team split a pair of non-conference matches on Thursday night as the Lady Tigers fell to Ouachita Baptist, 3-0, but bounced back with a 3-0 sweep of Arkansas-Monticello at Steelman Fieldhouse.
 
In the opening match, Grambling State (15-20) led 24-21 in the opening set, but fell 28-26 to Ouachita Baptist. OBU (18-10) cruised to a 25-11 victory in the second set and won the match in the third set, 25-22.
 
Chasity Nicks led the way for Grambling State with nine kills and four digs. Diemend Richardson chipped in with 15 assists, while L'Muriell Thrower tallied 10. Erineka Mollere paced the defense with 14 digs.
 
Kori Bullard and Adrianna Nolly led Ouachita Baptist with 16 and 13 kills. Stormi Leonard finished with 37 assists, while Nikki Clay and Paige Williams added 13 and 10 digs, respectively.
 
Against Arkansas-Monticello, the Lady Tigers picked up a 25-20 win in the first set and carried over the momentum in the second set with a 25-22 victory, grabbing a 2-0 lead. Grambling State made short work of Arkansas-Monticello and swept the match with a 25-22 win in the third set.
 
Nicks paced the Grambling State offense with 14 kills, while Talicia Lang added 10. Thrower and Richardson combined for 31 assists and 16 digs.
 
The Cotton Blossoms (10-20) got a match-high 20 kills from Maggie Pyles and 12 kills from Vanessa Pawlak in the loss. Toryn Cox chipped in with 41 assists, while Macy Mitchell and Aubrey Harrison tallied 25 and 10 digs, respectively.
 
Inside the Numbers
· Against OBU, Grambling State finished with 31 kills, 33 digs, 28 assists, 12.5 total team blocks and four service aces.
· Ouachita Baptist tallied 50 kills, 46 assists, 43 digs, 5.0 total team blocks and four service aces.
· Against Ouachita Baptist there were 19 ties, including 13 in the first set, and seven lead changes.
· Against Arkansas-Monticello, the Lady Tigers finished with 37 kills, 53 digs, 34 assists, 7.0 total blocks and six service aces.
· The Cotton Blossoms registered 48 kills, 60 digs, 47 assists, 3.0 total team blocks and three services aces.
· Grambling State finished with eight attacking errors, while Arkansas-Monticello recorded 23.
· There were 23 ties, including eight in the third set, and six lead changes.
 
News & Notes
· Grambling State picked up its 15th win of the season and have won five out of its last seven matches.
· The Lady Tigers avenged a 3-1 loss at the Southern Arkansas Tournament to Arkansas-Monticello and have split the season series.
· Grambling State has three remaining matches on its regular-season schedule (home vs. Southern and Arkansas-Pine Bluff, and away at Southern).
 
Up Next
Grambling State steps back into Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) play on Sunday as rival Southern visits the Fredrick C. Hobdy Assembly Center. The Senior Day match begins at 6 p.m.
 
Follow Grambling State Athletics
For complete coverage of Grambling State athletics, please follow the Tigers on social media at @GSU_Tigers (Twitter), /gramblingstateathletics (Facebook), @gramblingathletics01 (Instagram) or visit the official home of Grambling State Athletics at gsutigers.com.