WEATHERFORD – SWOSU Volleyball took down Oklahoma Baptist at home in a five-set thriller on Tuesday to open conference play. The Dawgs had to overcome 1-0 and 2-1 deficits but claimed the fourth and fifth sets to earn the win over the Bison.
The result pushes the Bulldogs back to an even 5-5 record on the year and to an unblemished 1-0 in GAC play.
In front of a strong home crowd and feeding off the energy, the Bulldogs jumped out to an early 8-2 lead in the opening set. That lead dwindled and eventually changed hands back to the Bison after the visitors used two late four-point spurts to steal the first set away 27-25.
Instead of letting it snowball, the Dawgs got back to work. SWOSU led wire-to-wire in a decisive 25-8 second set that saw them hit a match high .423 and need just 26 attempts for 13 kills while holding the Bison in the negatives with just four kills and nine errors. Lacy Mott combined for 13 kills through the first two sets.
Tied 1-1, OBU grabbed another lead in the match the following set with a 25-22 victory. SWOSU matched OBU's nine errors from the set prior and hit a match low .073.
With no more set losses to spare, the Dawgs escaped the fourth with a pair of three-point runs and made it to the fifth. Knotted at 19-19, three huge blocks had the gym rocking. First, a solo block from Mott, before two more from the combination of Mott, Hailey Smith, and Samantha Kuzma. Cameron Turner finally ended things at 25-22 with a service ace.
To the fifth! And it was all Bulldogs. SWOSU surrendered an ace on the opening point before rattling off four straight points. From there, OBU was unable to produce consecutive points the rest of the way. While Mott led the way offensively in the first four sets, it was Hailey Smith who took over in the fifth with four of her 12 kills.
Kuzma ended with nine blocks and 10 digs – both career bests. Mott's 25 kills and Jada Permenter's 30 digs both fall one number shy of tying career highs.
SWOSU hit .210 as a unit and limited OBU to .111. The Bulldogs finished with 13 total blocks, a new season best.
Up next on the schedule lies East Central who will play host to SWOSU on Thursday, Sept. 26. That match will start at 6:00 pm in Ada, Oklahoma.
