Clarksville, Ark. – A huge crowd saw a great effort by the University of the Ozarks volleyball team despite the Eagles dropping a narrow 3-2 match against Henderson State University's junior varsity team on Tuesday night in the program-opener.

The Eagles' inaugural match saw the team feed off of an energetic and loud crowd to quickly set the tone winning the first set 25-18. The Eagles used that momentum to post a second-set 25-22 win. With the Eagles surging to impressive leads in the first two sets, Henderson State would fight back to claim a win in the third set, 25-22. Henderson went on to win the fourth set, 25-18, to extend the match. The fifth set went back-and-forth before Henderson eventually secured a 15-13 win.

Brooke Humphrey paced the Eagles with 12 kills. Lauralai Bradley had 19 digs to lead the Eagles. Henderson State held a slight 40-38 advantage on kills. The Reddies owned a 84-73 advantage on digs.

The Eagles struggled with 18 service errors to help Henderson State overcome a 2-0 deficit to begin the match.

Under the direction of head coach Natalia Burdulis and assistant coach Darcy Dodd, the first-year program has high expectations after a strong showing Tuesday and will host John Brown University August 30. The Eagles will open the regular season against Williams Baptist College on September 2 at home.