SHAWNEE, Okla. – SWOSU Volleyball fell short in the GAC Championship game to Oklahoma Baptist in straight sets on Saturday afternoon.
The Dawgs finish the year 16-15 overall and 12-4 in conference play. This was their first appearance in the GAC Tournament final since 2015 where they took home their lone tournament championship.
The first set was a back-and-forth affair with neither team having more than a three-point lead until the game sat at 16 on each side. OBU then caught fire and went untouchable, scoring the final 10 points to take a 1–0 lead in the match.
Oklahoma Baptist hit a blistering .429 to the Bulldogs' .114, and each team had two blocks.
The second set opened on a similar track with the Bison taking the opening three points. The Dawgs narrowed the margin to two but could never get over the hump. The middle part of the set featured a 7-0 run by Oklahoma Baptist that broke it open, and a late push by the Dawgs ended the set 25–20 in favor of OBU.
In the third and final set, the Dawgs couldn't string together enough points to build momentum, but they stayed close enough to keep it competitive. It was a two-point game with OBU up 22–20 before the Bison earned their first match point at 24–21. The Bulldogs had to fight off three match points to stay alive, just as they did in their semifinal match yesterday. They managed to do it again, winning the next three points to tie the set. However, the magic ran out, and the Bison took the final two points to close the match.
The Bison finished with 55 kills to the Bulldogs' 39, while SWOSU hit .205 compared to Oklahoma Baptist's .294. The Dawgs recorded five service errors and four service aces.
Hailey Smith led SWOSU with 17 kills and no errors, finishing just one shy of her career high set in the quarterfinal win over East Central.
Mackenzie Sims handed out 33 assists alongside three kills and six digs, and
Jada Permenter collected a team-high 16 digs.
Smith and Permenter were named to the All–Great American Conference Tournament Team at the conclusion of the match.
