Box Score
Box Score (html)
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – After three sweeps to start the Great American Conference tournament, the nightcap between SWOSU and Ouachita Baptist provided the most excitement of the opening day at Summit Arena.
When all was said and done, however, it was the Tigers celebrating a second five-set victory over the Bulldogs and advancing to the semifinals to face top-seeded Harding. OBU won the match 3-2, defeating SWOSU by scores of 24-26, 25-19, 25-22, 16-25, 24-26.
"I'm very proud of our team for their efforts not only tonight, but all season," Head Coach
Josh Collins said. "It's always tough to have a season come to an end, especially in such a hotly contested match, but I'm proud of my team for battling and giving us a chance to win until the end."
The Bulldogs squandered a 17-11 lead in the first set but rebounded to win the second and third sets, putting themselves in position to close out the match. OBU pushed the match to five after a 25-16 win in the fourth, setting the stage for another fifth set.
Ouachita Baptist scored the first three points of the fifth set and pushed out to an 8-5 lead at the turn, but a trio of kills from
Christina Darras and a service ace from
Saasha Jacobson pulled the Bulldogs to within one at 11-10. OBU had match point twice but Darras again responded with kills to keep SWOSU alive but back-to-back attack errors from the Bulldogs ended the match at 16-14.
Joey Collins led SWOSU with 19 kills after taking 66 attack attempts, the second-most in a single match in school history.
Alison Cole finished with a double-double of 16 kills and 11 digs while adding five assist blocks to her school-record total, which will sit at 135. Darras came in during the third set and put down eight kills, including the last six for SWOSU in the pivotal fifth set. As a team, the Bulldogs had a school record 237 hitting attempts for the match.
Breann Whitaker had 52 assists for SWOSU, the fifth-most in a match in school history, and six players reached double figures in digs, combining for a total of 110, the second-best mark in SWOSU history.
Kaila Lancaster led the way with a match-high 30 while
Kenya Williams had 19 and Collins and Jacobson each notched 16.
While the loss ends SWOSU's season at 13-21, the 2013 team will leave their mark on the Bulldog volleyball record books. The team put down 1,525 kills with a .170 hitting percentage, both of which are the second-best single season marks in school history. In addition, this team sits atop the single-season mark for blocks with a total of 249.
