OBU Championship Bound After SNU Thriller

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – OBU finished off SNU in a five-set thriller 3-2 Friday night in the semifinals of the Great American Conference Tournament. Four of five sets were decided by three points or less, with the fourth set going into extra points.
 
The Bison got off to an exhilarating start in the first set, putting up nine straight points before the Crimson Storm could answer. OBU finished with an outstanding 12-point win differential, never ceding the lead to SNU.
 
Taneyah Brown led the set with five kills. Hayley Daniel finished second on the set with a total of four kills and three digs. Malia Leatherland chalked up two kills and seven digs. Diana Carranza ended the set with seven digs.
 
The second set was hotly contested, with six lead changes and 10 ties. The Crimson Storm and Bison were neck and neck throughout the game. Neither team was able to gain a significant advantage over the other. However, Daniel was able to put up the set-sealing kill, giving the Bison a 25-22 victory. Daniel finished the set with a team-leading nine kills. Leatherland and Brown both finished with seven kills. Carranza added four more digs to make her team-leading total 11.
 
SNU pulled out a strong third set, forcing a fourth-set matchup. However, the Bison played hard with the final score of the set being 25-22 Crimson Storm. Like the second set, this set had 10 ties. Both Daniel and Brown reached the top of the roster with a total of 12 kills each. Leatherland followed closely with a total of 11 kills.
 
OBU pulled out with an early 5-1 advantage. However, SNU was able to tie it up with a 4-point streak. From there, the game went back and forth as there were seven ties total. In the final minutes of the set, OBU was able to gain a 24-22 lead. Unfortunately, SNU answered back again, going on a four-point streak, and successfully staving off elimination. The Crimson Storm took the set 26-24. OBU's Leatherland and Daniel led the team with 16 and 15 kills respectively.
 
In the pivotal fifth set, OBU got off to a 6-0 lead. SNU was able to make the game interesting, rallying all the way to reach a deficit of only one point, 13-12. However, the Bison never gave up the lead, and Leatherland sealed the OBU victory with a kill that went just out of the reach of the diving SNU defender. Brown, Leatherland, and Daniel all ended the match with double digit kills. Brown led the team with 19, Leatherland came in second with 18, and Daniel rounded out the top three with 17. Carranza led the team with 24 overall digs. Daniel finished second with 19 and Leatherland rounds out the top three with 18. Leatherland's 18 digs tonight now gives her a total of over 1,000 career digs.
 
Up next for the Bison is the Championship match against the defending GAC tournament champion Harding. The championship match is set to begin at 2 p.m. tomorrow, with the winner earning the opportunity to compete in an NCAA Regional.