SHAWNEE – Oklahoma Baptist will host Northwestern Oklahoma State Thursday in a match that will have Great American Conference Tournament seed implications.
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The Lady Bison (16-12, 10-3 GAC) are currently third in the conference standings, and have a chance to solidify at least a third place finish with a win over the Rangers (18-9, 8-5 GAC), who rank fourth in the GAC. Northwestern still has an outside shot at the three seed, but OBU would have to lose each of the final three matches on the schedule.
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Following a win over Southwestern Oklahoma State Tuesday, the Lady Bison have won their previous two GAC matches. OBU puts up 13.22 kills on a .222 hitting percentage against conference foes this season while limiting their opponents to .132 hitting. The Lady Bison won the first meeting against Northwestern this year, defeating the Rangers 3-1 in Alva behind 21 kills from senior
Cadyn Laing back on Sept. 12.
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Mikayla Watson leads the team with 3.21 kills per set (sixth in the GAC) and is the reigning GAC Offensive Player of the Week.
Hayden Blair averages 9.25 assists (sixth in the GAC), Kelsi Chavez scoops up 4.45 digs per set and
Sophia Couto paces the team with 1.09 blocks per set (third in the GAC). As a team, OBU ranks 18
th in NCAA Division II with 2.36 blocks per set.
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A loss to Southeastern Oklahoma State Tuesday snapped a two-match winning streak for the Rangers. Northwestern averages 12.7 kills per set on .228 hitting and has allowed opponents to only hit .167 against them. Hannah Williams leads the offense with 3.26 kills per set (fifth in the GAC) and Jennifer Eubanks adds 3.11 kills (seventh in the GAC) on .383 hitting (second in the GAC). Kaitlyn Robinson puts up 6.77 assists (eighth in the GAC), Lauren Symington averages 0.91 blocks (sixth in the GAC) and Tobi Barker leads the conference with 52 service aces.
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Live stats for the match will be provided
HERE, with a free video stream available
HERE.
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