ARKADELPHIA – The Ouachita Tigers’ volleyball team defeated Arkansas Tech in three straight sets (26-24, 25-11, 25-19) on Thursday night to clinch their share of the 2016 Great American Conference regular season title, their first ever conference title under head coach Danny Prescott.

It was the fifth straight win for Ouachita, who finish the regular season with a conference-high 22 wins. Junior Kori Bullard led the Tigers with 10 kills and six blocks. As a team, Ouachita finished the match with a .342 attack percentage.

Arkansas Tech jumped out to a commanding lead in set one, forcing Ouachita to take an early timeout down 6-1. Down 14-6 in the set, the Tigers got a kill from Katie Camp to start their comeback. Behind the service of senior Ashley Wake, the Tigers cut the Golden Suns’ lead to four. Back-to-back blocks by Kori Bullard and Stormi Leonard made it 14-10.

After a Tech kill halted the rally, Ouachita got the serve right back thanks to another kill from Camp. She then held serve for four straight points to tie the set at 15-15. The two teams exchanged leads until Tech gained a two-point advantage and forcing another Ouachita timeout. Trailing 21-19, the Tigers again rallied to lock the game up at 24-24. The Tigers scored two straight with the set point coming off a kill from senior Jayme Shell.

Set two was dominated by Ouachita, winning it 25-11. Arkansas Tech was forced to take a timeout down 12-6 and then again in the second set after the Tigers extended the lead to 16-6. Camp held serve for six straight points during the Tigers’ run.

Senior Anna LeTourneau would pick up one of her two service aces on the night in the second set. Ouachita would hit .353 in the second set, committing only two attack errors to Tech’s 10. Shell led the way with three kills in set two. Junior Caitlin Cantrell came up big defensively, getting three blocks in the set.

Ouachita never trailed in set three, taking the final set 25-19. Ouachita was able to take advantage of Tech’s seven service errors and hit .294 in the finale with Bullard and Tabatha Huckabee leading the Tigers with two kills each in the set. Back-to-back errors by Tech would give Ouachita the set and the match and a share of the GAC regular-season championship.

After the match, the team recognized their four seniors Emily Alderson, Anna LeTourneau, Jayme Shell and Ashley Wake.

The win also secures the second seed in the GAC Tournament for the Tigers. They will face the seventh-seeded University of Arkansas-Monticello in the quarterfinals.

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Over the last few years, OBU volleyball has been close, very close. With 15 wins in 2014 and 16 wins in of 2013 and 2015, the Tigers have been on the brink of greatness.

This season, the Tigers are sitting atop the rankings at 10-3. With a 5-1 home record and an impressive 4-0 record on neutral sites, the Tigers volleyball team is taking Ouachita by storm.

Nine of Ouachita’s 10 wins have come from 3-0 straight set victories. The bottom line is, if you haven’t been out to see the Tigers play this year, you are missing out on the best thing to hit the court since Tiger Traks had to be held indoors.

One of the key reasons the team has succeeded in such amazing fashion is its senior leadership. Jayme Shell, a senior Kinesiology fitness major with minors in nutrition/dietetics and biology from Batesville, has managed to find time in her busy academic schedule to help lead the Tigers on this run.

“This year has been amazing,” Shell said. “Our team chemistry, athleticism and passion has been incredible. Our team is so strong all the way around. This means anyone could be put in a game and do exactly what we need.

“We really love each other and have fun together even though we may not like each other at moments. But that’s what makes us family. I’m so excited where we are as a team and look forward to the rest of a great senior year.”

Shell has been playing volleyball for a while, but now, coming up on her last year, she says she didn’t always want to play the game she now loves.

“I started playing volleyball in the 9th grade after trying out in 7th and 8th grade, but not liking it and being busy with other sports to get involved. After giving it one more try in the 9th grade, I loved it. It ended up being the best sport for me,” Shell said.

Then she started out, peer pressure actually played a positive role in getting her into the sport in which she would turn out to be a star.

“My friends’ influence is what made me decide to play. All five of my high school girl friends played and begged me to play with them so we could all be together. I guess you could say I gave into that peer pressure,” Shell said.

After a few years of playing seriously, Shell began to get noticed by coaches. Her exceptional play in high school did not go unnoticed by college teams.

“I decided that I wanted to play in college my junior year when I started gaining more experience, getting noticed by coaches, getting some honors and truly falling in love with the sport. I couldn’t see myself not playing anymore after my senior year of high school, and that’s when I knew I wanted to play in college,” Shell said.

When you’re a player as talented as Shell, you have plenty of options to choose from when colleges come calling. She knew Ouachita was the place almost from the beginning, though.

“I picked OBU, not only because I had numerous family members attend, like seriously, 12, but because it’s where I felt at home. I loved my coaches and teammates from the very first day I tried out, and that made it really easy to pick Ouachita,” Shell said.

Collegiate volleyball has challenged and stretched Shell as a an athlete.

Photo courtesy OBU Signal.

“Volleyball has disciplined me physically and mentally, has taught me how to manage my time and how to move on to the next moment. Volleyball means so much to me and has been such a major part of my life; it’s hard for me to imagine that I’m completing my last year,” Shell said.

Now a senior in college, Shell likes to remember the days four years ago  before tests and stress. Her favorite volleyball memory of all time comes from those days.

“My favorite volleyball memory would be when my team made it to the semifinals of the State Tournament my senior year of high school. We had worked so hard, and despite some adversities, we were able to enjoy that moment as a team,” Shell said.

What makes volleyball so special and so much fun to watch is that, unlike some other sports that can be dominated by having one exceptional player on your team, volleyball requires an entire team that is on the same page. Everyone has to utilize the team’s talents. Teamwork has played a big part in Shell’s career.

“My favorite memory with the team this year has, strangely enough, been a practice one Sunday evening before [the] season had even started. We were all tired from the previous week of practices, and I really wasn’t sure how that practice was about to go, but we came out with lots of energy and had one of the most fun, yet productive practices probably ever,” Shell said.

Shell feels that she has grown as both a player and a person, thanks to the sport she loves.

“I think the biggest difference from when I started playing till now would be my confidence on and off the court. I was very quiet and shy in high school (and still am sometimes), but volleyball allowed me to get out of my comfort zone and learn how to be confident in my abilities, who I am as a person, and as a daughter of Christ.”

Volleyball has made a huge impact in her life, and Shell sees herself as a coach of a club volleyball team in the future. She got an opportunity to coach last year and loved getting to learn the sport from a different perspective.

So if you haven’t gone out to see the team play this year, make sure to find your way out to SPEC, as the Lady Tigers have home matchups against Southern Nazarene and the Bison of Oklahoma Baptist in the upcoming weeks.

While you’re at it, make sure to make Shell a huge poster and cheer extra loud in the stands to show her how much you appreciate what she’s done for OBU volleyball the past four years.

This story was first posted on the OBU Signal and was republished with permission.

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