WBU Falls to Trojans on Senior Night

WALNUT RIDGE, Ark. (10/28/25) – The Williams Baptist University volleyball team fell to Hannibal LaGrange in five sets (20-25, 25-8, 25-22, 20-25, 16-14) on Thursday night inside the Southerland-Mabee Center.

Before the match, WBU volleyball recognized seniors Hope Raymond and Faith Raymond for their contributions to the program over the past four years.  Hope is second on the career digs leaderboard at WBU, and Faith is just under 1,000 in her career at 964.

Tinleigh Ruhman led the offensive attack for the Eagles with 13 kills on a .217 hit percentage.  Payton Bond followed up with nine kills on a .438 percentage.  The seniors led the charge on the back row, with Hope and Faith both collecting 17 digs on the night, and Desirae Walker led in assists with 17.

As a team, WBU had 44 kills, 40 assists, and 85 digs in the contest.

Hannibal-LaGrange rattled off the first seven points of the match to take a commanding lead in the first frame.  WBU crawled back after a four point swing behind the serve of Hope Raymond, ending in an ace to tie the set at 15-15.  Despite the comeback, the Trojans took four of the last five points to win the set 25-20.

The Eagles responded with a dominant showing in the second frame, posting a .273 hit percentage for a 25-8 set win.  The Lady Eagles took the first five points of the set, then an 8-0 run behind the serve of Faith Raymond put Williams in front 17-5.  WBU ended the set on an 8-1 run to tie the set count 1-1.

The Trojans took the lead late in the third frame after a WBU set error made it 22-20, but the Lady Eagles took the final five points of the set behind kills from Payton Bond and Hope Raymond to take the set lead 2-1.

HLGU responded with a 25-20 set win in the fourth to send the match to a penultimate set.  A 3-0 swing capped off by a Trojan attack error put WBU up 12-8, but Hannibal swung back with five straight points to take a 13-12 lead in the fifth set.  A Tinleigh Ruhman block tied the score at 14-14, but the Lady Eagles could not keep up, dropping the final set and the match.

The Lady Eagles will return to the court on Tuesday, Nov. 4 for the final road game of the year against Philander Smith.  The match is slated for a 6 p.m. start in Little Rock, Ark.