OKLAHOMA CITY – The 11th-ranked Oklahoma Baptist volleyball team used stellar defense to notch their ninth consecutive win, taking a tough contest over former NAIA rival Oklahoma City University, 25-21, 25-23, 25-21.
The Bison finished with 33 kills to 16 errors while hitting .152 on the night, while OCU had 35 kills to 24 errors while hitting .079. OBU had an overwhelming nine blocks to the Stars' one and OBU held a 33-32 advantage in assists and a 63-56 advantage in digs.
OBU used a five point rally early in the first set to take a 10-6 lead, but OCU responded with four straight points to tie it up at 10. The two teams traded kills back-and-forth as OBU held on to a 19-18 lead.
The Bison scored five of the next six points to open up a 24-19 lead before taking the set at 25-21 for the early lead.
OBU carried that momentum into set two, opening up an 8-3 lead in the early going. The Stars battled all the way back to make it a 17-16 game in the set, but OBU again had a big rally, earning five of the next six points to lead 22-17.
Down 24-20, OCU got it back down to one at 24-23 and looked to extend the set, but
Malia Leatherland slammed the door shut with a kill to take a 2-0 lead.
Set three would be an ugly set for both sides as each hit below .100 in the set with OBU holding OCU to -.060 hitting. The Bison pushed the lead as high as 11-6, but OCU again rallied and got it as close as one at 18-17.
OCU would tie it at 20 all before OBU rattled off five of the final six points to take the set and the match at 25-21.
Leatherland and
Taryn Weber led the way with seven kills each while Weber hit an impressive .467.
Avery Hellmuth added five kills and a .400 hitting average.
Kaylee Buell had 29 assists while Leatherland added two service aces.
Defensively,
Kelsi Chavez led the way with 18 digs while
Diana Carranza added 15.
Kaelyn Ina had 11 digs on the night.
Julia Brinton led the way with one block solo and four block assists while Buell added three block assists.
Ella Lofton led OCU with 12 kills while Sophia Salak had 30 assists. Isabel Harwell added 24 digs.
OBU moves to 9-0 and will return home on Tuesday as they welcome in Northwestern Oklahoma State in their first GAC match since February 23rd. First serve is set for 7 p.m. inside the Noble Complex.
