ARKADELPHIA, Ark. --- The Mississippi College volleyball team split its first day of action at the Reddie-Tiger Invitational on Friday, Sept. 17. MC (1-2) picked up its first win of the season in five sets against the University of Arkansas at Monticello before falling in five sets at Ouachita Baptist University.
 
Lexie Laurendine set the program's record for assists in a match with 54 in the five-set victory over Arkansas-Monticello. She surpassed the previous record of 50 set by Lauryn Hamrick against Huntingdon on Oct. 29, 2011. The assist total helped the Clinton, Miss., junior to her 13th career triple-double as she compiled 10 kills and 16 digs in the match.
 
Kendall Platt paced the Choctaws in kills with 15 in the match while Lexi Richards added 14. Lydia Paulette supplied 12 while Sloane FitzHenry joined Laurendine with 10 kills.
 
Defensively, FitzHenry led the squad at the net with five blocks followed by Richards with four. Erin Davis paced the team with a career-high 29 digs. Platt added 17 in the match.
 
The Choctaws and UAM, like in the first match of the season, swapped sets before the Navy and Gold closed out the contest in the fifth set. MC claimed the first set 29-27 and took a 2-1 lead in the match in the third with a 26-24 victory. The Blossoms won the second and fourth sets, 25-23 and 25-20 respectively.
 
MC and UAM exchanged leads in the fifth set with the team teams standing deadlocked at 5-all, but the Choctaws went on a 6-1 run to claim an 11-6 lead en route to the 15-9, match-clinching victory.
 
Richards posted a career-high 19 kills in the setback against OBU. The Bentonville, Ark., native surpassed her previous total of 16 set at UAH on Oct. 25, 2019. Laurendine compiled 40-plus digs for the third time this season with a team-leading 46 in the five-setter.
 
Stevie Nesbit, FitzHenry and Platt each totaled a team-best four blocks in the contest while Davis compiled 14 digs. Platt added 13 digs to finish second on the team.
 
OBU jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the deciding set en route to the 15-6 win.
 
MC held a 2-1 lead after the first three sets as it claimed the second set 25-20 before taking a 25-18 win in the third. The Purple and Gold rallied for a 25-19 win in the fourth to notch the contest at 2-2.
 
Mississippi College returns to action on Saturday, Sept. 18 as it faces OBU for the second time in less than 24 hours and closes out the day at Henderson State University at 3 p.m. First serve against the Tigers is slated for Noon.