SHAWNEE – After two busy weeks on the road, Oklahoma Baptist volleyball will head out on the road once again on Tuesday before returning home for the weekend for their home opener in conjunction with the Bison Invitational.
The Bison start the week with a trip to Durant to take on Southeastern Oklahoma State in both team's Great American Conference opener. First serve is set 7 p.m. Oklahoma Baptist then takes on William Jewell, Southwest Baptist, Drury and Randall over the weekend in the squad's first action inside Mabee Arena at the Noble Complex.
Oklahoma Baptist enters the week sporting a 6-3 record after going 4-1 last week. Last year, OBU went 9-4 at home and will look to enjoy a similar home-court advantage this year. The Bison also dropped Southeastern in straight sets on the road in 2018.
Averaging 12.8 kills/set, OBU's led by
Malia Leatherland, an all-tournament performer last weekend at the Patriot Classic, with 3.28 kills/set and
Hayley Daniel with 3.22 kills/set. Enjoying an efficient attack over the weekend, OBU currently boasts a .193 hitting percentage. That efficiency has been helped along by both
Rylen Moore and
Kaylee Buell who have averaged 7.13 and 3.81 assists/set, respectively.
Defensively, OBU is led by another Patriot Classic all-tournament performer in
Diana Carranza who currently averages 5.29 digs/set in 31 sets played this season;
Hayley Daniel is second on the team at a 3.11 clip. At the net,
Audrey Poupard leads OBU with 1.09 blocks/set while
Brenna Holley ranks second on the team at .85 blocks/set.
Southeastern is currently on a three-match losing streak heading into Tuesday and sits at 1-7 through two weeks of action. Hannah Grant leads the offense, averaging 2.52 kills/set. Caitlin Cosby is SOSU's defensive leader with 5.14 digs/set.
William Jewell, who OBU last met on the court in 2009, owns a 2-5 record but is riding a two-match winning streak. Tori Vogt has a team-high 3.00 kills/set, helped by Megan Rhule and Lauren Castaneda's 5.88 and 5.67 assists/set, respectively. Kennedy Ruckh leads the Cardinals at 3.46 digs/set.
Southwest Baptist has struggled to start the season, holding a 1-7 record after dropping their last six matches. Rebecca Rabius has been the go-to option for the Bearcats on offense, averaging 3.00 kills/set, while Makenzie Bouse has been the primary playmaker averaging 8.41 assists/set. Kylie Talbott averages a team-best 3.07 digs/set. The Bison dropped SBU, 3-1, in Shawnee last year.
Drury enters the week with a 3-6 record but closed out last week with a 3-2 upset win over No. 18-ranked Northwest Missouri State. The duo of Julia McCown and Makina Wratten have combined to average 6.37 kills/set, set up well by Reba Thomsen's 8.41 assists/set. Katie Gorman and Paige Perry both average better than 3.10 digs/set for the Panthers. The Bison last met Drury in 2017, falling 3-0.
Randall is 4-5 and has a busy week before arriving in Shawnee on Saturday. Charity Burdette leads the Saints with 2.61 kills/set off the service of Erika Styne's 5.87 assists/set. Sydney Bolin is RU's defensive leader at a 2.86 digs/set clip. This will be OBU's first all-time meeting against Randall.
