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MONTICELLO, Ark. – Brandy Mader became just the fourth player in SWOSU Volleyball history to record a triple double and
Alyssa Olson set a new career high for assists, but it was not enough for the Bulldogs to earn a victory over Arkansas-Monticello. The Cotton Blossoms came from behind to defeat SWOSU 3-2 (25-18, 30-32, 25-19, 16-25, 7-15) on Saturday morning at the Pioneer Cellular Event Center.
SWOSU got off to a great start behind strong play from Mader, who had six kills and hit .857 in the opening set, a 25-18 Bulldog win that got them on top 1-0 early. The Dawgs again appeared in control of the second set, taking a 23-20 lead late in the set before UAM rallied to take a 24-23 lead and force extra points. The set continued with long rallies into extra points until the Cotton Blossoms closed the door with a block on
Carly Zak at 32-30.
The Dawgs again got out quickly in the third set, pushing out to a 14-9 lead before UAM scored five straight points to tie the set and force a SWOSU timeout. After trading points up to 18-18, SWOSU pulled ahead with three straight points and finished on a 7-1 run for the 25-19 set win. SWOSU led early in the fourth and got within one at 14-13 but UAM's offense got going late in the set as the Blossoms scored the final eight points to take the match the distance.
After scoring the first two points of the deciding set, SWOSU allowed a five-point run for UAM who took the early lead at 5-2.
Joey Collins put down the third point for SWOSU, getting the Dawgs within two, but they were unable to get any closer as UAM six straight points to get to match point. SWOSU fought off two deciding points before a bad set forced
Carly Zak into a hitting error and ended the set at 15-7.
Mader had the most balanced stat line of her career at SWOSU and became the first Bulldog since Lindsay Dusin in 2012 to record a triple double. She finished with a team-leading and career-high 15 kills, 19 assists and 16 digs while also adding two assist blocks and hitting .194. Olson had the task of spelling Mader at setter and allowing her to hit, and she responded with the best match of her career, tallying a double-double of her own with 29 assists and 12 digs.
Collins had 14 kills while Zak added 13 for the Bulldogs, who attempted 195 attempts in the match.
Kaila Lancaster had a team-best 23 of SWOSU's 100 total digs while
Kiley Brennfoerder led the way on defense with seven blocks (one solo, six assist).
The defeat drops SWOSU to 5-9 on the year and below .500 at 3-4 in Great American Conference action. The Bulldogs are back in action on Tuesday (Oct. 7) against Northwestern Oklahoma State, with match time slated for 7:00 pm at the Pioneer Cellular Event Center.
