Box Score (html)
ADA, Okla. – After dropping their opening set of the Great American Conference season, the SWOSU Volleyball team regrouped and won three straight over East Central on Tuesday evening and defeated the Tigers 3-1 (19-25, 25-17, 25-18, 25-16) at the Kerr Activities Center in Ada.
The Bulldogs struggled out of the gate, hitting just .067 with nine kills and six hitting errors in the opening set while allowing ECU to put down 17 kills with just four errors and take the opening set 25-19. The second set was tied early on before SWOSU got seven consecutive points during the serve of
Klemson Lancaster, who had three aces in the side and pushed the Bulldogs lead out to 11-4. ECU would not get any closer than five points the rest of the set and the Dawgs sent the match to intermission tied 1-1 with a 25-17 set win.
SWOSU had their best offensive set in the third, hitting .325 with 15 kills and just two errors. The Bulldogs gradually pulled away from ECU in the set as
Danusia Sipa Borgeaud and
Jenny Tackett took turns getting kills before
DeLayni Fine put the finishing touches on the set with two kills down the stretch, including set point at 25-18.
A slow start set forced the Bulldogs to play from behind in the fourth as ECU scored the first four points and led 8-3 in the early stages. SWOSU took their first lead of the set with five points on the service of
Allie Hoang, going on top 13-10 and not looking back as another long service from
Kodee Avery scored six consecutive points and pushed ahead to match point, where
Addie Aman got her ninth kill to end the set at 25-16.
Borgeaud led the Bulldogs with a career-high 17 kills and she tallied her first double-double of the season with 11 digs. SWOSU's starting middle duo of Aman and Tackett combined for 14 kills without a hitting error while Fine and
Valerie Vermillion added seven kills apiece. Aman also led the Bulldogs with six assist blocks, helping SWOSU to an advantage of 9.0-to-3.0 in total blocks.
Kodee Avery fell one dig shy of a double-double with 40 assists and nine digs, but it was
Kaitlyn Dillon leading SWOSU with 25 of the Bulldogs 87 digs on the night.
Allie Hoang (15) and
Lindsey McCauley (14) also reached double figures in digs while Lancaster matched her career high with four service aces in a match for the third time this season.
"Any time you can go on the road in the GAC and get a victory, it's an accomplishment," SWOSU Head Coach
Josh Collins said. "We started slow, but we had the leadership to pick us up and get the team going and that's something I was glad to see. Now we have a short turnaround and four tough regional matches so we have to get ready to compete again this weekend."
SWOSU (4-5, 1-0 GAC) stays in state this weekend for the GAC / MIAA Crossover, which begins on Thursday in Edmond against Pittsburg State (11:00 am) and No. 13-ranked Central Oklahoma (6:00 pm).
