WEATHERFORD, Okla. – SWOSU Volleyball had a season high 15.0 team blocks Thursday night at home in a 3-1 win over Southern Nazarene. The Bulldogs honored four seniors prior to the match, Ashley Jekel, Taylor Henderson, Carmen Kinsey, and Kylie Talbott, who all played their final game inside the Pioneer Cellular Event Center.
The win in the regular season finale improves SWOSU 16-11 on the year and 12-4 in Great American Conference play. Unofficial but likely, it appears the Bulldogs will rematch SNU in the quarterfinals of the GAC Tournament next week in a 3-seed vs 6-seed matchup.
Henderson was a catalyst at the net all night. She finished with eight total blocks (5s-3a) and added nine kills to her statsheet. Kinsey had five blocks of her own (3s-2s) while also finishing with nine kills.
The defense held SNU to .018 hitting as a team. Lauren DeSantiago had a game high 20 digs, followed by a double-double from Lacy Mott who had 18 digs and led the team with 14 kills.
Things looked ready to wrap up quickly after SWOSU claimed the first two sets with little resistance. In fact, the Bulldogs did not trail in either frame.
They finally faced a deficit in the third after falling behind early. SWOSU trailed 11-6 and tied things at 11-11, then trailed 16-11 and fought back within one point at 19-18. SNU finally put things away for good shortly after.
The fourth set had a little of everything. SWOSU trailed early and through the middle but found their stride late by scoring eight of the final nine points to claim the win.
The offense wasn't its sharpest Thursday after hitting .105 collectively, but the Bulldogs edged the Crimson Storm at the service line with five more service aces (6-1) and had eight fewer errors (35-27) on the night.
