SHAWNEE – On Tuesday night in Oklahoma Baptist's Noble Complex, the Bison volleyball team faced off against undefeated Central Oklahoma for their sixth meeting in history. By night's end, the Bison fell prey to the Bronchos in an intense five-set match with a final score of 3-2.
To begin the match, the Bison and the Bronchos were neck and neck in the first. The Bison's shining player was junior
D'Erricka Frierson, who accounted for five kills. With Frierson's efforts, the Bison were able to gain an edge over Central Oklahoma and secure a 25-23 win.
UCO came into the second set with a little more fire behind their play. Taking the first set's greatest point gap from three to six, the Bronchos earned a leg up against the Bison in a 25-19 set. Though the six-kill effort of
Avery Hellmuth contributed greatly to the Bison's efforts, leading scorer Sydney Huck of UCO led her team to win the set with a five-kill contribution to the scoreboard.
The collaboration of UCO's Jenna Karp and Huck during the third stanza outshone the Bison's competitive spirit with a total of nine points for UCO. At one point, the visitors made their greatest lead of the match 12 points, aiding to the Bison's loss of 25-12. For OBU, it hit .000 in the third.
The loss of the two consecutive sets spurred the Bison to enter the fourth with a rekindled desire. With four kills by
Taneyah Brown, four more from Hellmuth and a monumental final block by Hellmuth, the Bison fought hard and took the fourth, 26-24.
With the match tied 2-2, the fifth and final set was a nail-biter. The valiant efforts of Brown, redshirt freshman
Jill Leslie and Frierson did not go unnoticed with a total of seven kills towards the final set. But with the leadership and five kills of UCO's Huck, the Bison lost 15-12 as UCO ran its record to 10-0.
Next on the schedule for the green and gold is a trip to the West Florida Invitational in Pensacola. On Sept. 9, OBU faces No. 17 Lewis and No. 8 West Florida.
