WEATHERFORD – For the nine seniors of SWOSU Volleyball, there was no better way to be sent out than with a win over Northwestern on Senior Night to clinch the 2024 Great American Conference Regular Season Championship.
 
The Bulldogs defeated the Rangers 3-1 on Tuesday in front of a record crowd that included many family members and supporters, and in the process, secured the outright conference title for the first time in program history.
 
The championship gives the program two GAC trophies since competition began back in 2011. SWOSU won the 2015 GAC Tournament, and on Tuesday, added to that a regular season trophy as they inch near a potential 20-win season.
 
Against Northwestern, SWOSU notched a sixth straight win but had to overcome a slow start to do it. 10 of the Dawgs 19 errors in the contest came in the opening set as the Rangers weathered the ruckus crowd early to jump ahead 1-0 with a 25-17 victory.
 
After that, the Dawgs settled in and got to work. Upon hitting just .027 in set one, SWOSU closed sets two, three, and four with hitting percentages of .250 or better which included a match high .333 mark in the second to knot things back up.
 
Zoey Sparks provided the best performance with six total blocks (1s-5a) and 13 kills. Lacy Mott, who was held without a kill in the first set and who had five errors early, found success as the game went along and eventually matched Sparks' 13 kills by the end. Hailey Smith (9) and Taryn Galt (8) combined for another 17 kills.  
 
SWOSU's block, headed by Sparks and Samantha Kuzma, came up big all night. They finished with 11 blocks, tied for fourth most this season. When the ball got past the block, Cameron Turner was there. She finished with a career high 20 digs and got help from Mott's 16 and Terez Chavez's 11.
 
The Dawgs finished with eight total aces compared to Northwestern's three.
 
With the win, SWOSU moves to 19-7 overall on the year and 14-1 in GAC play. With one game remaining in the regular season, the Dawgs can achieve the fourth 20-win milestone in the last eight full seasons dating back to 2015.
 
The regular season finale comes Thursday night, November 14, on the road against Southeastern.