WEATHERFORD, Okla. – Riding incredible performances from
Markenzie Benoit and
Allie Hoang, Bulldog Volleyball ran away with a 3-1 win on Thursday night against Southern Nazarene.
Like a finely tuned sports car hitting the open road, SWOSU got into another gear and found their groove as the match went on and the Crimson Storm just couldn't keep up.
The two teams split the first two sets, and it looked like the Bulldogs were headed for another five-set nail biter. But hot starts to both the third and fourth frames for the Bulldogs took the wind out of their opponent's sails and made it a fairly comfortable win for SWOSU.
The offense ran through the usual suspects in the first set, as
Markenzie Benoit and
Lacy Mott both contributed five kills a piece and
Taryn Galt racked up four kills for herself. Everytime it looked like the Crimson Storm would make a run, the Dawgs had an answer and back to back kills from Mott gave the set to SWOSU.
Southern Nazarene responded well in the second, making it hard for the Bulldogs to get into their rhythm offensively and forcing an uptick in mistakes from SWOSU. 13 total errors from the Bulldogs in the set made things easy for the Crimson Storm and tied it up at one set a piece.
"I think there's a lot for us to learn still and that's why these matches are important," said Head Coach
Josh Collins. "We allowed one error on our side to turn to multiple errors. We've got to take care of our side of the ball. That's going to come and all of these opportunities are learning opportunities. It's good that we are winning within those opportunities."
Whatever Collins said to his team after the second set must have struck a chord. SWOSU cruised to huge and ultimately insurmountable leads in both of the final intervals, starting out on a six-point run in the third and an eight-point run in the fourth, to eventually put the game away.
In all three sets the Bulldogs won, they led wire to wire. No tied scores or lead changes. SWOSU has Senior setter
Allie Hoang to thank for that because her service game was on point tonight. Her opening service resulted in an at least four-point scoring runs for the Bulldogs in all four sets, with two aces worked in as well.
To put a cherry on top of all of that, Hoang pulled off one of the more incredible plays that we will see all season with a backwards, bicycle kick dig that led to a point for the Bulldogs and made the Pioneer Cellular Event Center erupt.
The service work put in by all of the Dawgs was phenomenal on the night, as the team racked up nine aces. That's the second most they have put up in a single game this season.
You could not tell the story of the night without once again mentioning
Markenzie Benoit, who finished with 15 kills on an incredible .500 attacking percentage while also accounting for five block assists.
"She's pretty good huh?" Coach Collins said after the game. "She might be a decent volleyball player."
It was another raucous crowd at the Pioneer Cellular Event Center and the support is felt and appreciated by the team. They will need that same energy on Saturday at 11:00 am when Randall University comes into town.
"Another huge shout out to Bulldog nation," said Coach Collins. "Our fans are incredible. Can't say enough about that."
