SHAWNEE – Behind 12 total team blocks and 12 kills by
D'Erricka Frierson, Oklahoma Baptist swept Arkansas Tech on Friday afternoon in Great American Conference play at the Noble Complex. OBU moved its record to 15-9 and 9-2 in the GAC.
The Bison's defense made things tough for the visiting Golden Suns as they notched just a .020 attack percentage by match's end. In the block department,
Jill Leslie,
Avery Hellmuth and
Audrey Poupard all recorded at least five in the contest.
Back-to-back service aces from ATU's Aspen Jankowski had the visitors leading early, 5-0, before the green and gold got into a groove. After inching back a bit and bringing the scoreboard to 7-6, the Bison reeled off nine straight to seize command. Hellmuth tallied a trio of kills and a block assist to help OBU go up 15-7.
Tech didn't go quietly, though, following that stretch as it rallied. A kill by Heather Thomas moved the tally to 19-17 before the Bison closed strongly. In fact, a 6-1 run helped clinch the opening set which was capped off by a Tech error.
In the second, an early back and forth had the two teams knotted up at 10-all before OBU made its move. A massive 10-1 run, which included multiple points by Leslie and Frierson, helped the Bison secure a 20-11 advantage. They would later win 25-17 while hitting an efficient .333.
A slew of aces by the Golden Suns helped curtail an eight-point Bison advantage in the final stanza. Down 20-12, ATU notched three aces from Megan Solberg which helped it tie the set, 21-21. However, OBU would not let last year's GAC Tournament Champion have any more points after that.
Two kills by Frierson and a match-ending block from Poupard and Hellmuth helped the Bison win 25-21.
There's just one game for OBU next week. That will come Oct. 20 at Southwestern Oklahoma State at 7 p.m.
