ALVA, Okla. – SWOSU Volleyball closed out the regular season with their second sweep of the year over Northwestern and will now shift its focus to the GAC Tournament, which begins next Thursday.
The Bulldogs have now won five straight against the Rangers and swept the season series without dropping a set for the first time since 2012.
Consistency from the Bulldogs powered them to victory, as they hit over .230 in every set while holding Northwestern under .100 in two of the three frames.
SWOSU opened the match strong with a 9-3 lead, but Northwestern answered by taking seven of the next nine points to pull within one. The Bulldogs immediately countered with a seven-point run to build an 18–10 advantage and controlled the rest of the set to secure the opener.
The second set featured nine ties and four lead changes, with the Rangers posting their best hitting mark of the day at .146 to stay close. SWOSU closed the door by taking the final four points to win the tightest set of the match.
After trailing by as many as three in the third, the Bulldogs surged late, claiming 10 of 12 rallies to flip a 12–9 deficit into a 19–14 lead. That run proved decisive as SWOSU pulled away to finish the sweep.
SWOSU finished the match hitting .250 compared to Northwestern's .072. It marked the ninth time this season the Bulldogs have held an opponent below .100 hitting — and they've won every one of those matches.
Hailey Smith paced the Bulldogs with 12 kills against just two errors, hitting an efficient .435.
Jenna Houk added nine kills and 11 digs, while
Jada Permenter anchored the defense with a team-high 13 digs.
Mackenzie Sims continued her strong run with her fifth straight double-double, finishing with 29 assists and 10 digs.
The victory moves SWOSU to 14-14 overall and 12-4 in conference play as they head to Shawnee for the opening round of the GAC Tournament as the No. 3 seed, where they'll face 6-seeded East Central after Thursday's results around the league finalized. The two split the regular season series this year.
