KEARNEY, Neb. – Oklahoma Baptist split the opening day of the Loper Pre-Season Invite to open the 2019 season. The Bison fell, 3-1 (22-25, 16-25, 25-21, 21-25), to Augustana before bouncing back to knock off St. Adams in four sets (26-24, 25-16, 21-25, 25-15).
Match 1
Augustana 3, Oklahoma Baptist 1
The Bison feel behind, 2-0, but rallied to take the third set in the opening match of the season. After trading points, OBU gained a measure of separation with a three-point run to make it 15-12 following a block by
Malia Leatherland and
Audrey Poupard and a kill by Leatherland off the dish from
Diana Carranza.
Though Augie fought back to take the lead at 20-19, a Viking attack error triggered four-point run for the Bison thanks to kills from Leatherland, Poupard and
Hayley Daniel; all three kills were off feeds from
Rylen Moore. Daniel and Poupard combined for a block to seal the set win.
Oklahoma Baptist fought to keep it close in the fourth, even tying the set up at 17-all, but would eventually succumb to a late flurry of points from the Vikings.
In the first match, Daniel led the way with 15 kills while Leatherland added eight. Moore had 38 assists Dianna Carranza led the way with 17 digs. Poupard had four blocks in the morning match up.
Match 2
Oklahoma Baptist 3, Adams State 1
Oklahoma Baptist roared out to a 2-0 lead as they held off a Grizzlies run to secure the first set 26-24. With the score tied at 24, Poupard and
Taneyah Brown came through with a huge block followed by an attack error to clinch the set.
The second set was all OBU as a six point rally gave them a 9-4 lead. Adams State tried to stay in range, but another huge Bison run, another six point run, put the set out of reach as OBU won it 25-16.
Adams State would rally and take a set off OBU, but it would be another dominate set for the Bison in the fourth as they pushed their lead out to 17-7 and never looked back.
Daniel had another big match with 16 kills while Leatherland added 11. Moore added 33 assists while Carranza had a huge game defensively with 27 digs. Brown and
Brecken Roquemore each had three blocks.
OBU will be back at it tomorrow afternoon for Day 2 of the Lopers Invite as they take on host and No. 11 Nebraska-Kearney at 12 followed by a match up with Findley at 4.
