WEATHERFORD – SWOSU Volleyball celebrated Senior Night with a 3-0 sweep of rival Northwestern Oklahoma State in Thursday's regular-season finale at the Pioneer Event Center.
The Bulldogs won 25-21, 25-17 and 25-14 to finish the regular season 18-10 overall and 11-5 in Great American Conference play. SWOSU earned the No. 4 seed for next week's GAC Tournament in Enid.
Seniors Jenna Houk, Jada Permenter and Libbie Hughs were honored before the match and each contributed to the victory. Houk recorded 10 kills, six digs and three block assists, Permenter led the back row with 18 digs and Hughs added nine digs.
The opening set featured 10 ties and six lead changes before Northwestern moved ahead 18-17. SWOSU responded with five straight points behind three combined blocks from Houk and Katja Blanchat and two service aces from Sydnee Winfrey. The Rangers pulled back within two, but Blanchat delivered a kill before an attack error closed out the 25-21 win.
SWOSU settled in offensively from there. The Bulldogs broke a 2-2 tie in the second set with an 8-1 run and never trailed again. They totaled 21 kills and hit .341 in the frame, with Blanchat supplying eight kills as SWOSU pulled away for a 25-17 victory.
Northwestern scored the first three points of the third, but the Bulldogs answered and took their first lead at 8-7. SWOSU later turned a 10-9 margin into an 18-10 advantage behind an 8-1 run and closed the match by scoring six of the final seven points. The Bulldogs committed only two attacking errors and hit .441 in the set to finish the sweep.
Layla Collins led SWOSU with 13 kills, followed by Blanchat with 12 and Houk with 10. Morgan Ritchie added eight kills on 10 swings for a match-high .700 hitting percentage. Blanchat also contributed a match-high five block assists, while Houk added three.
Mackenzie Sims posted a double-double with 41 assists and 14 digs.
SWOSU finished with a 52-25 advantage in kills and outhit Northwestern .262 to .102. The Bulldogs also held a 62-38 edge in digs and recorded seven blocks.
The fourth-seeded Bulldogs will face No. 5 seed Arkansas Tech in the opening round of the GAC Tournament at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, November 11, in Enid. The matchup will be a rematch of a five-set regular-season contest won by the Golden Suns.
