BIG RAPIDS, Mich. – Oklahoma Baptist University, ranked No. 9 in the AVCA Poll, split two matches on the first day of the Ferris State University Invitational. The Bison dropped their season opener to Winona State before coming back to sweep Tiffin.
WINONA STATE MATCH
The Bison were swept for just the second time in the last 53 matches as the Warriors won 27-25, 25-20 and 25-23 on Friday morning.
OBU was led by
Malia Leatherland and
Taryn Weber whom each tallied eight kills. Senior setter
Kaylee Buell added 24 assists and 10 digs while
Diana Carranza notched 10 digs herself. Additionally,
Taneyah Brown and
Audrey Poupard combined for 11 kills and 13 block assists.
The first set was highly competitive with 10 ties and three lead changes. Neither squad led by any more than three points. The last of those ties (25-25) came as the Bison benefitted from a service error by Winona. Despite the miscue, the Warriors followed up with two straight points to win the first.
Nearly midway into the second set, Winona went on a substantial run to take control. After a block from Buell and Poupard moved the tally to 9-8, the Warriors reeled off a 10-3 run. Madison Larson had a pair of kills while four others contributed to push the lead to 19-11. The closest OBU got the rest of the way was four points.
Down 2-0, OBU was on the verge of forcing a fourth set. Four straight points, including kills from Poupard and Brown, pushed the Bison lead to 22-18. However, following a Winona timeout, the tide turned. The Warriors closed the set winning seven of the next eight points. A trio of those points came on attack errors by the Bison.
TIFFIN MATCH
After the morning defeat, Oklahoma Baptist came back and throttled the Tiffin Dragons.
By match's end, OBU posted a solid .327 attack percentage while holding its opponent to a -.032 mark. Brown notched a match-high 11 kills to go along with 12 digs while Carranza had a match-high 12 digs.
Jenna West also got into the mix by contributing eight kills.
In the first, the Bison got out to an 8-3 lead on a Weber kill which then sparked a massive 11-3 stretch for OBU. Weber and
Avery Hellmuth added a pair of points before
Brooklyn Fluke closed the rally with a kill. At that point, it was 19-6 Bison. They would go onto win 25-10.
Not much changed at the start of the second set as OBU scored eight of the first nine points with the last coming to
Destiny AbuBakir-Temple. The slow start didn't help the Dragons who ended up connecting on a miserable -.062 attack mark.
D'Erricka Frierson, Hellmuth and West each recorded multiple kills in the set to lead OBU to a 25-14 win.
The Bison closed the third and final set with great offense, hitting .457. There was a 15-4 stretch at one point that pushed the lead to 19-5.
Kenedy Houchin had a kill in that run while Brown recorded four to add to her stat line.
Tomorrow, Oklahoma Baptist will face off against Davenport University and No. 13 Hillsdale to wrap up the Invitational.
