WEATHERFORD, Okla. – Southwestern Oklahoma State (5-4, 1-0 GAC) played with a raucous crowd behind it and ended up winning in five sets against 13th-ranked Oklahoma Baptist (6-2, 0-1 GAC) on Thursday night in Great American Conference action at Pioneer Cellular Event Center. It was the Bulldogs' first win against the Bison since Oct. 20, 2018, a span of four matches.
Errors proved to a be difference on Thursday as OBU committed 26, tying its season high. Leading the charge for OBU were three players whom each tallied double-digit kill totals:
Malia Leatherland (12),
Taryn Weber (10) and
Taneyah Brown (10).
Additionally,
D'Erricka Frierson,
Avery Hellmuth and
Audrey Poupard each contributed at least eight kills.
Kaylee Buell dished out 40 assists and
Diana Carranza notched a team-high 15 digs.
Down 15-13 in the opening set, Bison head coach
Anna Howle called timeout to regroup her team. The ensuing possessions saw OBU jump in front. Hellmuth attacked two Buell passes for kills before
Rylen Moore added another to make it 16-15.
The two squads went back and forth until a small Bison stretch at the end. Back-to-back kills from Weber pushed the OBU lead to 23-21. Hellmuth and Weber then registered OBU's last two kills to help the green and gold prevail 25-22.
Down a set, SWOSU came back to win the second stanza. Competition was tight before a 6-1 run by the Bulldogs. That stretch boosted the hosts' lead to 19-17 after a Maicee Morgan kill. SWOSU never relinquished the lead after that.
In the third, the Bulldogs had everything go their way early as they raced out to an 11-1 advantage after a solo block from Markenzie Benoit. The closest the Bison got was six points, 15-9, after a SWOSU attack error.
With their backs against the wall, Oklahoma Baptist responded in the fourth to tie the match. A 7-2 stretch was started by a Hellmuth ace before Leatherland and Poupard combined for three kills. OBU led 13-10 and never lost its advantage after that as Frierson helped push the Bison to a 25-20 fourth-set win with three kills toward the end.
Tied 2-2, SWOSU closed the fifth frame with a 4-0 run. Before that though, OBU led 13-11 and 14-12. However, a service error, kill by Taryn Galt and ace aided the home team to tie the match at 14. The Bulldogs' final two points came via a Bison error and block assist from Allie Hoang and Samantha Kuzma.
OBU will look to bounce back on Sept. 21 when it hosts fellow GAC member East Central at 7 p.m. at Noble Complex.
