Volleyball Unveils Noble Complex in Style

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Box Score (html)
 
SHAWNEE – Oklahoma Baptist Volleyball found the perfect tonic for a lengthy losing skid, knocking off Great American Conference foe Northwestern Oklahoma State, 3-0 (25-17, 25-21, 25-23), in front of 482 vocal fans during the grand unveiling of the newly renovated Noble Complex. The match was the first home contest for the Lady Bison this season.
 
Shekinah Sharpe, returning from a five-match absence due to injury, didn't miss a beat as she paced the team with 11 kills and 14 digs for a double-double, and also chipping in with three block assists. She stepped up big for the Lady Bison down the stretch, pushing OBU towards match point with a pair of kills to push the lead to 23-22 in a back-and-forth third set.
 
The Lady Bison came out the gates firing on all cylinders. After gifting the Rangers a three-point advantage at 7-4, OBU rode a seven-point rally, benefitting as much from kills by Kynnedy Myers, Cadyn Laing and Sharpe as they did from a bevy of Northwestern errors, to claim an 11-7 lead. A pair of kills by the Rangers interrupted the stretch, but the Lady Bison were undeterred as they continued to get kills in bunches thanks to Taylor Williams, Nicole Fleitman and Sharpe. The Lady Bison clinched the first set off a connection between Myers and Sharpe, 25-17, as OBU hit .306 for the set.
 
Play tightened up for both teams, with both side combining for 18 attack errors and a minus-.025 hitting percentage. Darby Maclea got the set started with an ace. Points were traded from there, but Sierra VeraCruz gave OBU some breathing room serving the Lady Bison to a three-point advantage at 10-7. Oklahoma Baptist went on a 6-1 run from there, including three kills by Sharpe, before Northwestern went on a four-point streak of their own. At set point, OBU had trouble taking down the Rangers, but eventually benefitted from a handling error by the Ranger's Monica Peacock to get the pivotal 25th point and a 2-0 lead.
 
Oklahoma Baptist suffered their worst start to a set when they entered the third after a 10-minute intermission. Going down 7-2 early, OBU head coach Anna Howle called timeout to rally the team. The lead would balloon to 11-6 before a kill by freshman Adonica Wright sparked a six-point run that tied the match up at 11-all following a kill by Sharpe through a Northwestern block. Both teams never enjoyed better than a two-point advantage down the stretch, but a service ace by Madyson Hillis finally wrestled the lead away from the Rangers before Sharpe and Fleitman closed the door and gave OBU their first win in seven tries.
 
"Our team did a great job on blocking all night long," said Howle. "We played a great defensive match, Sierra in particular had a great match. It felt so good to be back home and in front of a crowd that really supported our team!"
 
Sharpe led the team with a match-best 11 kills, while Laing tallied eight and Fleitman six. Myers had 26 assists and add four kills while hitting .667 for the match.
 
Defensively, VeraCruz led the floor with 22 digs, followed by Sharpe with 14 and Maclea with nine. The Lady Bison out-blocked Northwestern 12-4, including six total blocks for both Laing and Williams. Williams had a match-best two solo blocks.
 
Oklahoma Baptist now turns their sights to the GAC-MIAA Crossover, which they will be hosting on Friday and Saturday, Sept. 16-17. The Lady Bison's first match of the Crossover will be Friday at noon against Pittsburg State.