SHAWNEE – Oklahoma Baptist volleyball is set to make its debut at the NCAA Central Regional Tournament on Thursday, Dec. 5 as the No. 8 seed. The Bison will take on No. 1-seeded Nebraska-Kearney in a rematch of an early-season bout at 7:30 p.m. from the Health and Sports Center in Kearney.
A five-set affair the last time OBU met then-No. 11 UNK, the Bison dropped a 3-2 (25-19, 25-17, 7-25, 14-25, 13-15) decision to the Lopers.
Malia Leatherland had a match-high 20 kills while swinging .404 for the contest,
Rachel Richie was second on the team with nine. On the defensive end,
Diana Carranza posted a match-best 33 digs.
With 1,657 total kills this season, OBU ranks ninth in all of Division II in the category. Leatherland leads OBU with a 3.99 kills/set average, followed by
Hayley Daniel with 3.03. During the Great American Conference Tournament, Leatherland became just the third player in program history, and the first in OBU's Division II era, to amass 1,000 career kills and 1,000 career digs; she currently ranks fourth all-time in career kills with 1,191.
Rylen Moore and
Kaylee Buell have done well to keep the Bison offense humming, boasting a .416 assist percentage. Moore, who already ranks fifth all-time in career assists with 898 in her freshman campaign, averages a team-high 7.30 assists/set.
On the defensive side, opponents are hitting just .137, though UNK did hit .249 against the Bison defense in both teams' third match of the season. Carranza leads the team with a 5.18 digs/set clip, while Daniel is second on the team with 3.47 digs/set.
Audrey Poupard has been tough to beat at the net, averaging 1.11 blocks/set, including 10 solo blocks; she is the first Bison since Sophia Couto in 2017 to average at least 1.00 block/set.
The Lopers are undefeated on the season with a 33-0 record and are currently the No. 2-ranked team in Division II. A balanced offense that averages 14.21 kills/set, UNK is led by Julianne Jackson's 3.05 kills/set. MK Wolfe and Anna Squiers also average 2.40 kills/set or better. Maddie Squiers has operated out of a 5-1 system the whole season, accounting for 10.99 assists/set.
Defensively, UNK is allowing opponents 10.57 kills/set on a .109 hitting percentage. Lindsay Nottleman leads the Lopers with an average of 5.26 digs/set, while three other players average at least 3.10 digs/set. At the net, UNK is averaging nearly 2.00 blocks/set, though no player is averaging better than .76 blocks/set.
The winner of Thursday's regional quarterfinal match will advance to play the winner between No. 4 Northern State and No. 5 St. Cloud State on Friday, Dec. 6 at 7:30 p.m.
