GOODWELL, Okla. – St. Edward's won three straight sets to defeat SWOSU 3-1 in Friday evening's opener, but the Bulldogs responded with a quick 3-0 victory over Panhandle State to split at the triangular hosted by the Aggies.
St. Edwards 3, SWOSU 1Box Score (25-23, 23-25, 15-25, 7-25)
SWOSU started strongly against St. Edwards, never trailing as they won the first set 25-23 following a kill by
Carly Zak, her third of the set. Things slowly spiraled downward from there, however, with the Bulldogs battling uphill in a close second set before presenting little resistance to the Hilltoppers in the final two sets.
Zak led the Bulldogs with 12 kills while
Joey Collins had 11 in the match.
Brandy Mader notched a double-double with 25 assists and a team-high 17 digs while
Kaila Lancaster added 14 digs. The SWOSU defense was limited to just two total blocks with Zak and
Shayne Haley each recording a solo block.
SWOSU 3, Panhandle State 0Box Score (25-16, 25-12, 25-9)
The Bulldogs quickly rebounded from the defeat and dispatched of the home Aggies in straight sets. The victory is SWOSU's 11th all-time over OPSU, the most by the Bulldogs over any opponent.
Zak led the way with nine kills – giving her 99 for the season – while Haley added eight while not committing a hitting error and hitting .667 for the match. In total, nine players recorded a kill while 11 saw action in the match. Mader had 19 assists while
Alyssa Olson added seven to go along with eight digs. Lancaster had a team-high 11 digs and Mader blocked a team-best four attack attempts, all solos.
With the Friday split, the Bulldogs are now 4-5 on the year heading into a week with three Great American Conference road matches. SWOSU returns to action Tuesday with a trip to Bethany to face Southern Nazarene.
