Box Score (html)
ALVA, Okla. – The first round of rivalry volleyball didn't disappoint as SWOSU and Northwestern Oklahoma State played a thrilling five-set match on Thursday evening at Percefull Fieldhouse. The Bulldogs overcame a 2-1 deficit before NWOSU put the match away 15-11 in the fifth set for the 3-2 victory.
SWOSU won the first set 25-21 despite trailing for most of the set and by as many as six points in the early going. The Bulldogs got the set tied at 14-all but were unable to take the lead until a trio of kills from
DeLayni Fine and
Valerie Vermillion put SWOSU up 19-17 late in the set.
Addie Aman and Fine had kills to get SWOSU to a 22-19 advantage and consecutive hitting errors by Northwestern gave the Bulldogs the 25-21 victory in the set.
The second and third sets went to Northwestern by scores of 25-19 and 25-20, respectively, as the Rangers took control of the match heading to the fourth. NWOSU was in position to close out the match with a 23-20 lead in the fourth before SWOSU scored four straight points on the serve of
Kaitlyn Dillon following a service error by the Rangers. Fine and
Danusia Sipa Borgeaud were responsible for the final three kills to help the Dawgs tie the match and force the decisive fifth set.
In the fifth set, both teams went back-and-forth with SWOSU taking an early 5-3 lead on back-to-back kills from Fine before Northwestern responded and tied the match at 7-7. A ball handling error by the Rangers gave SWOSU the lead at the turn, but NWOSU rallied off five straight points to build a 13-9 lead. SWOSU battled off one match point as the Rangers missed a serve but NWOSU got a kill on the ensuing point to conclude the match.
SWOSU stayed in the match despite hitting .109 with 10 fewer kills than Northwestern (58-to-48) with strong defense, including 11 blocks and 92 digs as a team. The Bulldogs also had seven service aces in the match and took advantage of 13 service errors from the Rangers.
Leading the way for the Bulldogs was
DeLayni Fine with 14 kills and
Danusia Sipa Borgeaud with 10.
Kaitlyn Dillon had a match-high 25 digs for the Bulldogs, while
Lindsey McCauley (15),
Allie Hoang (11),
Klemson Lancaster (10) and Borgeaud (10) also reached double figures.
JaLisa Hollingshed had a strong night at the net with eight assist blocks and
Kodee Avery dished out a team-high 36 assists.
"This is the second straight match where I feel like we played hard and competed, but just came up a little bit short in the end," SWOSU Head Coach
Josh Collins said. "I like the fight in our team and I'm proud of how we stayed composed tonight in a tough atmosphere. The best is still ahead for this team."
SWOSU (4-11, 1-2 GAC) drops their second straight Great American Conference contest and they will look to snap a six-match slide on Saturday at Southwestern Christian.
