WEATHERFORD – SWOSU Volleyball showed steady improvement throughout Tuesday night's home opener against (RV) Oklahoma Baptist, nearly extending the match in the third set before falling 3-0 inside the Pioneer Event Center.
The Bulldogs fell by set scores of 25-13, 25-21 and 26-24 to move to 7-6 overall and 1-1 in Great American Conference play. OBU improves to 10-4 and 2-0 in the league.
After a slow start in the opening set, SWOSU found more rhythm as the night progressed. The Dawgs increased their kill total from 10 in the first set to 16 in the second while improving from a .077 hitting percentage to .217.
OBU built a 22-15 advantage in set two before SWOSU made a late push. The Bulldogs scored five straight points to pull within 22-20, but the Bison answered to close out the frame and take a 2-0 match lead.
The third set was SWOSU's best of the night and featured 12 ties and nine lead changes. The Bulldogs led 12-8 midway through the frame and later broke a 19-19 tie with three straight points to move ahead 22-19.
OBU worked back even at 23-23 before Morgan Ritchie delivered a kill that put SWOSU at set point. The Bulldogs initially appeared to close out the set on the following rally, but an OBU challenge reversed the call and kept the match alive. The Bison capitalized and went on to take the set 26-24.
Ritchie finished with a career-high 11 kills on 27 swings with just one attack error, hitting .370 for the match. Layla Collins led SWOSU with 14 kills, while Mackenzie Sims totaled 36 assists and 11 digs. Jada Permenter added a team-high 13 digs.
SWOSU returns to the road Thursday, September 17 for another GAC matchup against East Central. First serve is set for 6 p.m. in Ada.
