SHAWNEE, Okla. – SWOSU Volleyball did not go down easy after taking the semifinal match of the Great American Conference Tournament to a decisive fifth set, but eventually fell to Northwestern 15-12 in the frame and were eliminated from postseason contention.
The Dawgs ran into a hot Ranger team who was coming off an upset of the No. 2-seed Oklahoma Baptist just 24 hours prior. Northwestern adds to their tournament resume with a win over SWOSU, who was the three seed. They'll now have their shot at top-seeded Harding tomorrow at 3pm in the championship match.
Per the GAC's communications department, it was just the second time in tournament history a team played back-to-back five set matches. SWOSU beat Southern Nazarene on Thursday in five, before going five again on Friday.
After a strong start in the opening set, the Dawgs just could not keep things rolling.
They won sets one and four, while Northwestern claimed two, three, and five.
SWOSU fell behind early in that first frame before closing strong to jump out to the early lead in the match. The Dawgs ended up hitting .419 in the set.
Unfortunately, they could not keep that success going and dropped the next two after hitting a combined .057 in those which included 17 total errors.
Things got cleaned in the fourth set with just five errors and a match high 18 kills to force the dramatic fifth set.
In that fifth set, SWOSU led 7-6 before a four-point burst by Northwestern caused them to play from behind the rest of the way. After back-to-back points got the deficit to one at 11-10, the Rangers eliminated any momentum swing with a point of their own to inch closer.
From there, SWOSU ran out of breathing room as Northwestern crept to 15 and the win.
Senior Carmen Kinsey went down swinging and finished with 16 kills again to lead the team for the second night in a row. Up until the GAC Tournament, nine was her season high.
Maicee Morgan, Lacy Mott, and Zoey Sparks all added 11 kills apiece and all hit over .240.
Northwestern bested the Dawgs with a .234 team hitting percentage, compared to .188 from SWOSU.
Kinsey alongside Taylor Henderson, Kylie Talbott, and Ashley Jekel also conclude their time wearing the uniform.
SWOSU is set to return all but the aforementioned next season.
Excluding the short COVID season, the Bulldogs have managed at least 16 wins in four consecutive seasons. They finish 17-12 in 2022.
