Box Score (html)
WEATHERFORD, Okla. – SWOSU Volleyball fell to Southern Nazarene on Senior Night 3-1 (25-11, 17-25, 25-27, 19-25) despite jumping out to an early lead in the match.
SWOSU came out in the first set firing, causing Southern Nazarene to call timeouts trailing 9-3 and again at 17-5. The Dawgs used four different players who collected at least three kills in the set to build the lead and a
DeLayni Fine kill to close out the lopsided first set 25-11. The Bulldogs hit an impressive .481 in the set, while holding the Crimson Storm to a mere .028 in the opening session.
The Crimson Storm responded in the second by jumping out to a 9-3 lead after multiple SWOSU hitting errors coupled with four kills from SNU's Courtney Bowie. The Dawgs tried to battle back multiple times in the middle stages of the set, but SNU responded every time with an answer and claimed the second set 25-17.
After the first two sets were decided by a total of 22 points, the third went down to the wire after a constant battle throughout. From the 16-14 mark neither team's lead grew to any more than two as both sides traded points nearly the entire rest of the way. Out of the timeout,
Jill Green collected a kill to knot the set back up at 21 and from there both teams scored in order until another timeout was called by the Dawgs trailing 23-22. Out of the huddle, SWOSU scored the next two points to put the pressure back on SNU. Despite being down to their last serve twice, the Crimson Storm fought off two set points and won the third set 27-25 and took a 2-1 advantage into the fourth.
After being tied 13-13 at the halfway point of set number four, SNU collected five-consecutive scores before a Page Holt kill could stop the run. Trailing 21-16, the Dawgs called for time looking for a change in momentum. After two quick scores out of the break, the Crimson Storm quickly ended the spurt and went on to win the set 25-19 and the match 3-1.
Three Bulldogs ended the match with at least 11 kills as Zak (16), Schmidtberger (13), and Green (11) led the offense.
Kaitlyn Dillon anchored the defense with 29 digs, followed by Zak's 18 and
Ariana Olson/
Kayla Hebert's 14. Hebert, this week's GAC Setter of the Week, collected 45 assists in the four sets.
During the match the GAC's all-time leading career kills leader,
Carly Zak, hit a personal milestone after slamming home the 1,600th kill of her four-year campaign. With her 16 kills on the night, the senior now has 1,613 in total with a minimum of two games left to increase the number.
The loss drops the Bulldogs to 12-16 on the season and 8-7 in GAC play heading into the final regular-season match against rival Northwestern Oklahoma State on Thursday in Alva. From there, SWOSU will head to Hot Springs, Arkansas the following week to play in the GAC Tournament with a seeding to be determined.
