HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – With a five-set victory over Henderson State in its opening game of the 2010 UAH Country Inn and Suites Invitational, the University of West Alabama team snapped a four-game losing streak on Friday afternoon. The win moves the Tigers to 3-6 on the season, while HSU falls to 5-2.

With the Tigers holding a 6-3 lead in the match's opening set, the Lady Reddies went on a 13-4 tear to grab a firm grasp on the momentum and rode it to a 25-19 first set victory.

The Red and White battled back, however, and won a closely contested second set by scoring the frame's final three points to break a 22-22 tie and deadlock the match at one set apiece. UWA then dominated the start of the third set, taking an 11-3 lead en route to an eventual 25-18 win to gain a 2-1 advantage in the match.

West Alabama hit at a .310 clip in the third set and were paced by Thais Hollerbach who racked up five of the team's 15 kills that came in the third set.

Though it appeared that the contest was heavily leaning in favor of the Tigers, the tide once again shifted, and Henderson State relatively breezed to a 25-16 victory in the fourth set to force the decisive fifth.

In the contest's final frame, West Alabama wasted no time in bouncing back once more and took a solid hold on the set by jumping out to a 9-2 lead before winning the fifth 15-7 to capture the match. Jennifer Campbell recorded four of her 12 kills in the set as the team compiled a .375 hitting percentage. Casey Byrnes was solid defensively in the fifth as she picked up 10 digs.

For the match, UWA outhit the Lady Reddies by a .241 to .191 margin, though HSU out-dug the Tigers 67-64.

Four players registered double figures in kills for the Tigers led by Hollerbach's 14 and Campbell's 12. Angela Sanders matched Campbell's output while Olivia Drew turned in 11 kills. Alexis McHale dished out 42 assists to lead all players in the match.

Drew and Hollerbach each recorded a double-double as the pair finished with 14 and 10 digs respectively.

Byrnes' 24 digs were topped only by HSU's Ashley Totten who scooped out 25 balls for the Lady Reddies. Rayla Doty led the way for Henderson State in kills as she collected 16.

West Alabama will attempt to string together a pair of wins for just the second time this season when it faces Arkansas Tech at 9 a.m. on Saturday to wrap up play at the tournament. Live stats will be available on the tournament web page.

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