OBU Opens GAC Tournament With Win Over ATU

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – The Oklahoma Baptist volleyball team opened up the Great American Conference tournament with a 3-1 win against Arkansas Tech Thursday night. The tournament's NO. 1 seed, OBU won the first set and then were just barely edged out by ATU in the second. The Bison then won the final two sets.
 
The Bison opened the match taking a closely contested first set, 25-23. The teams traded points through the set with neither team gaining a large advantage. ATU gained a slight lead, 13-10 over OBU, but the Bison gained some momentum back, winning five straight points to regain the lead. During that five-point stretch, four straight kills came off the hands of GAC Player of the Year Malia Leatherland, as well as Rachel Richie, and Brenna Holley.  
 
Leatherland led the first set with seven kills and two digs. Haley Daniel and Richie both finished the set with two kills apiece. Diana Carranza put up seven digs.
 
In the second set, the Bison lost to the Golden Suns by a small margin in a back and forth game. There were two lead changes with four ties. Leatherland ended the match adding four kills to her total. Daniel and Richie both added three kills as well to give them both a total of five.
 
In the final two sets, the Bison won 25-14 and 25-18. In the third set, the game was tied at five points apiece. The Bison then went on a four-point streak and ATU was never able to regain the lead. In the fourth set, the Bison only trailed when the score was 3-2. From there, OBU took care of business, with Leatherland providing the final dagger with her 24^th kill.
 
Leatherland led the team, ending the night with 24 kills, as well as being third on the team in digs with 11. Taneyah Brown was second with 10 kills. Richie and Daniel finished third with nine apiece. Carranza ended the night with a team-leading 29 digs.
 
The Bison are set to take on fifth-seeded Southern Nazarene in the semifinals with the match beginning at 6 p.m. Friday inside Bank OZK Arena.