MONTICELLO, Ark. - The University of Arkansas at Monticello volleyball team lost its final home game of the 2019 season when it fell in four sets to Henderson State University at the Steelman Field House on Tuesday in Monticello, Arkansas.
 
The Blossoms took the first set in a tight battle but went on to fall in the next three sets to lose, 3-1.
 
In the first set, UAM was all in on a solid fight winning by two, 25-23. Leslie Polanco paved the way for the Blossom offense tallying nine kills in the set. UAM had two three-point leads and down the stretch got some help from HSU attack errors. Up by one leading 24-23, a timeout was called by HSU. Out of the timeout, Katie Pearson set up Polanco beautifully as she slammed one home for the kill, and the set victory, 25-23.
 
In the second set, both HSU and UAM were back-and-forth. With the set tied, 14-14, and the momentum on the Blossoms side, UAM looked to have taken a one-point lead on a kill from Halli Lambert. However, HSU's coach argued the call and after a long break and a check in the rule book, the Reddies earned the point win to take the lead. The Blossoms answered back with two points but got out of sync right after. Henderson State went on a five-point run, and eventually won the set, 25-18.
 
The Blossoms aimed to get back out in front in set three taking an early 6-1 lead. In that stretch, UAM got a pair of kills by Polanco and a big-time assisted block from Polanco and Zealia Kleitz. The Reddies fired back though cutting the deficit to one. They kept it tight throughout, eventually taking the lead 23-22, and winning the set, 25-22.
 
The fourth set was mostly all Henderson State, leading from the beginning and earning the win, 25-16.
 
UAM had three players tally at least 11 points in the contest in Polanco (18.5), MarKayla Dickie (13.5) and Kleitz (11.5). Polanco's 17 kills led all attackers, while Dickie chipped in 13. Kleitz aided on five total blocks with three assisted and two solo.
 
Jessica Mahan had 21 digs in the contest and a pair of service aces while Katelyn Richbourg added 16 digs of her own.
 
UAM drops to 11-17 overall and 6-9 in conference play, while Henderson State improves to 19-9 overall and 10-5 in league games
 
Despite the loss, UAM still has a shot at making the Great American Conference Championship Tournament. A win for the Blossoms on Thursday at Ouachita Baptist and a loss for Arkansas Tech at Southern Arkansas would give UAM the tiebreak between them an ATU and allow them to slide into the eight-spot.
 
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UAM will conclude the regular season at Ouachita on Thursday at 6 p.m.