Box Score (html)
BETHANY, Okla. – Carly Zak continued her fine vein of form as the Bulldogs downed the Eagles of Southwestern Christian, 3-0 (25-17, 25-23, 25-22), on Thursday night inside the Pickens-Springer Gymnasium. The win extended SWOSU's winning streak to four games, rewriting the record books for the best such streak in program history.
Zak hit .371 while laying down 17 kills, tying for the third-most kills in a three-set match by a Bulldog. Former teammate
Joey Collins was the last SWOSU player to match the mark in a match against Henderson State on September 26, 2014. This was the third straight match for Zak with at least 15 kills.
The Bulldogs jumped out the gate early, taking a 4-1 lead on the serve of
Kayla Hebert. Though the Eagles would pull within two points on several occasions, Zak provided timely kills, swinging a perfect 6-6 in the first set.
Blair Dressendorfer chipped in with three kills of her own, and the Bulldog defense recorded three blocks, led by
Kelsi Schmidtberger and Zak, to pull off a 25-17 victory in the first set.
Zak continued her good form in the second set, recording a kill and an ace for the Dawgs' first two points. Southwestern Christian wouldn't be deterred, taking a 20-19 lead deep in the second set before a service error and block gave the Bulldogs the lead. The Eagles temporarily tied it up at 22-22, but Zak took matters into her own hands with her 11th kill of the match to put the Dawgs up yet again. Hebert held serve as SWOSU reached set point, and Zak put down two more kills to earn the Bulldogs a 25-23 victory, pushing their lead to 2-0.
Just like in the first two sets, the third proved tight in the early going. However, kills by Schmidtberger and
Jill Green sparked the Dawgs to a 17-13 lead after being tied at 13-all midway through the deciding set. SWOSU pushed that lead to 22-18 on Zak's 17th kill of the match, before the Eagles pulled back to tie the game 22-22. Schmidtberger dispelled any myth that SCU would take the set, laying down her seventh kill to end the rally.
Addie Aman and Schmidtberger then blocked the Eagles' final attack to give the Bulldogs a 25-22 victory in the third for the straight-sets victory.
The Bulldogs hit .234 as a team, led by Green who hit 5-10 for a .500 percentage. Hebert recorded a double-double with 33 assists and a team-leading 10 digs.
Kaila Lancaster tied her career high with four aces to lead the team in the category.
With the win, SWOSU (11-7) kicks off their first of three matches in a three day span. The Bulldogs are back in action on Friday evening with a 6 pm match against Arkansas Tech in Russellville, Arkansas.
