SHAWNEE – In the first five-setter at OBU's Noble Complex this fall, Oklahoma Baptist (18-8, 12-3 GAC) prevailed 3-2 over rival Southwestern Oklahoma State in a nail-biting Great American Conference match.
The win was the Bison's 12th in the last 14 matches, and it kept them in a tie for first in the GAC with one regular-season match left.
Key Leaders
- D'Erricka Frierson posted an OBU-high 14 kills and teamed up with Avery Hellmuth for the match's final point on a block in the fifth set.
- Freshman Lauren Safrit notched her fourth double-double with 12 kills and 17 digs.
- Jenna West also contributed a double-double with 13 kills and 11 digs.
- Setter Abrey Galt posted a season-high 31 assists while Maci Langford secured a match-high 24 digs.
- Jill Leslie registered nine kills, two aces, six digs and five block assists.
- As a team, OBU recorded 11.0 total blocks with five players recording multiple blocks.
Set One
The green and gold's defense was awfully good in the opening stanza, holding the visitors to a .079 attack mark. But despite SWOSU's offense not getting into a rhythm, the Bison's attack couldn't help its defense pull away until the end. Midway through the set, Southwestern's Keke Holloway served up an ace, moving the score to 17-13. That forced an OBU timeout. Following the quick break, the Bison responded. In fact, they went on a 12-2 run to win. Five of those 12 points were via SWOSU error while
Jh'Kyah Head, West, Hellmuth and Safrit recorded kills. By the end, OBU won 25-19.
Second Set
It was all OBU in the second as it raced out to a 9-2 lead and never looked back. That ninth point was delivered via Leslie ace. The Bulldogs would only get within four points the rest of the way (20-16) as West and Safrit recorded four kills to lead. For Safrit, she hit a blazing .571 in the second. Plus, Galt added nine assists. Defensively, OBU really hustled with five different players recording multiple digs.
Third Set
Trailing 2-0, the Bulldogs' efforts in the third were a complete reversal of their previous two. They never trailed in the stanza and got out to an 8-2 lead following Zoey Sparks' and Hailey Smith's block. Despite the rough start, the green and gold fought back. A kill by West had OBU down 20-19 and a bit later, a service error brought the tally to 21-20. However, the Bison couldn't tie it as SWOSU scored four of the last five and got a couple kills from Taryn Galt to prevail 25-21.
Fourth Set
Six ties and four lead changes highlighted the fourth. Those didn't come until late though, as the Bison had 4-1 and 10-5 leads, the latter of those after a block from Hellmuth and West. Southwestern didn't back down though and eventually tied it at 12-all following a point from Maicee Morgan. The Bison followed to take an 18-15 advantage after
Emily Boyer's ace but that still didn't put away the visitors. Following that, the Bulldogs scored six in a row capped off by an ace from Terez Chavez. That was the match-tying run for SWOSU who later won 25-23 on a kill by Morgan.
Fifth Set
Outside of a 10-10 tie, the final set belonged to OBU. It locked down Southwestern to the tune of an .038 attack mark. There were key points throughout the set from Head, who contributed a trio of kills and block while Hellmuth added a kill and block down the stretch. Plus, Frierson helped OBU to the final two set points with her 14th kill and match-sealing block with Hellmuth.
On The Horizon
On Nov. 9, OBU will host Southern Nazarene at 7 p.m. for a chance to share the Great American Conference regular-season championship with Harding. Earlier this season, the Bison defeated the Crimson Storm 3-1 on Sept. 26 in Bethany.
