SHAWNEE – Following four difficult matches in Minnesota last week, Oklahoma Baptist returns to the court on Sept. 2-3 for its Fall Tournament. The Bison are welcoming six other schools: Arkansas Tech, Texas A&M-Kingsville, Newman, St. Edward's, UT-Tyler and Union (TN).
Fans that are planning on attending can access all the tournament info – schedule, ticket prices, venue locations and more - by going to the
tourney website.
OBU (0-4) played four of the best Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference teams last week in St. Paul. That included nine-time NCAA Champion Concordia-St. Paul. One of the main storylines was the personnel that received playing time. Ten players competed in at least 10 sets. Of those, five were freshmen.
Here are OBU's leaders after the first week of the season:
#6
Payton Rink: 31 kills and 2.38 k/s
#15
Abrey Galt: 80 assists and 6.15 a/s
#2
Taneyah Brown: 3 aces and 0.23 sa/s
#14
Avery Hellmuth: 11.0 blocks and 0.85 b/s
#3
Maci Langford: 52 digs and 4.0 d/s
Now a look at the Bison opponents this weekend at Noble:
Newman Jets |
Schedule |
Roster | 2021 Record: 9-17
The Jets, under the direction of first-year coach Marisa Compton, are off to a 3-1 start. One of those victories came against Southwestern Oklahoma State by a 3-0 tally on Aug. 26. Here are the key players for Newman:
#12 Riley Daugherty: Team leader with 61 kills and 7 aces
#5 Mckinzie Weaver: 193 assists and 12.06 a/s
#23 Ozioma Ajekwu: 16.0 blocks and 1/0 b/s
#6 Natalie Morales: 85 digs and 5.31 d/s
St. Edward's Hilltoppers |
Schedule |
Roster | 2021 Record: 16-12
Like OBU, St. Edward's got off to an 0-4 start after last week's slate of matches. The Hilltoppers did gain a little momentum heading into the new week, as they fell 3-2 to Edward Waters on Aug. 27. SEU is under the direction of fourth-year coach Stefanie Holler. Keep an eye out on these players:
#15 Maya Smalls: 51 kills averaging 3.64 per set
#6 Esther Grussing: Team-high 88 assists and 6.29 per set
#5 Audrey Quesnel: Her 15.0 blocks are a team-high
#2 Sarah Konovodoff: Leads SEU with 55 digs with a 3.93 per-set average
Texas A&M-Kingsville Javelinas |
Schedule |
Roster | 2021 Record: 13-10
The Javelinas split four matches last week during the Kathleen Brasfield Invitational Tournament in San Angelo, Texas. One of those losses came by a 3-0 count to Southern Nazarene. Head Coach Tanya Allen-Gonzalez is in her 12
th year at TAMUK. Here are the top contributors so far for the Javelinas:
#8 Jackie Alanis: Team-high 53 kills and five aces
#4 Sydney Whitmire: Her 85 assists and 6.07 average are tops on TAMUK
#5 Ayanna Jackson & #13 Kailey Estrada: Tied for the team lead with 9.0 blocks
#6 Nicole Murff: Is averaging 6.0 digs per set
Union Bulldogs |
Schedule |
Roster | 2021 Record: 20-13
Interim head coach Stephen Vick brings his Bulldogs squad into Shawnee with the best record of all the teams, 4-1. Three of those wins last week came by 3-0 counts. Vick was previously a high school coach for seven seasons and accumulated a 213-52 record at Camden Central in Tennessee. Look at Union's key players:
#13 Sidney Hegg: Hitting .346 with a team-high 36 kills
#23 Jordan Vick: Her 132 assists are currently a top-50 mark in DII
#5 Sydney Sample: Leads the Bulldogs with 11 aces and 65 digs
#11 Alyssa Tatsch: Leads the team with 11.0 blocks
For more information on OBU Volleyball, follow the team on Twitter (
OBU_Volleyball) and Instagram (
OBU_Volleyball)
