WEATHERFORD – Oklahoma Baptist (10-6, 4-1 GAC) showed real character, rallying from a 2-0 match deficit to win in five sets on Tuesday against rival Southwestern Oklahoma State at Pioneer Cellular Event Center. The Bison ran their win streak to four matches in the process.
Key Leaders
First Set
Competition was tight throughout the first; there were eight ties and three lead changes. But a few Bison errors resulted in the hosts attaining a 1-0 match lead. With the scored tied at 18, SWOSU benefitted from back-to-back attack errors by the green and gold. Later, OBU erred twice more on swings and ended up falling 25-21. The Bison committed eight errors in the set.
Second Set
Lauren Safrit helped OBU attain an early 4-1 lead after an ace. However, the host Bulldogs eventually came back and pulled away. SWOSU's Taryn Galt aided her team with a couple of kills during a 4-0 run to push the scoreboard to 11-8. Galt than pushed Southwestern up six, 20-14, its biggest lead of the set at that point, with another kill. She hit .625 that stanza to lead the hosts to a 25-22 win.
Third Set
The course of the match was then turned by Oklahoma Baptist with a hot start in the third. OBU tallied eight of the first nine points as Hellmuth and Leslie each contributed a pair of kills. Later, the green and gold went up a touchdown, 20-13, following a Frierson point before the Bulldogs made things interesting. They hit a 6-1 run and brought the tally to 21-19 after a Zoey Sparks point. That spurt, though, was short-lived as the Bison stopped the stretch and won 25-20.
Fourth Set
OBU's defense was key in the fourth when they tied the match at 2-2. The Bison defensive charge held SWOSU to .000 hitting and forced it into seven attack errors. Hellmuth went 5-for-10 with five kills and led a 4-0 run to seize a 15-10 advantage. The closest SWOSU got the rest of the way was two points.
Fifth Set
Once more, OBU's defensive effort helped it prevail to victory. West tallied six digs while Langford and Frierson added four each, and the Bison allowed the Bulldogs to attain just five kills. A dominant start, which ended at 9-2 after West and
Allie Stricker teamed up for a block, helped the Bison win 15-11.
On The Horizon
With the victory, OBU sits a game back of first-place Harding. That's who the Bison will play next on Oct. 6 at 6 p.m. in Searcy.
