SHAWNEE – A share of the Great American Conference regular season title is on the line for Oklahoma Baptist on Thursday, Nov. 9 when it hosts Southern Nazarene for Senior Night at the Noble Complex.
Maci Langford,
D'Erricka Frierson,
Jenna West and
Kaelyn Ina will be honored prior to the match.
Previously this year, OBU defeated SNU 3-1 on Sept. 26.
Jh'Kyah Head tallied a career-high 15 kills while
Emily Boyer and
Rylee Martin combined for 47 assists. Defensively,
Avery Hellmuth,
Jill Leslie and Frierson all notched multiple blocks. A win on Thursday would mark OBU's first GAC regular-season title since the fall of 2021 and fourth overall.
Bison Notes
- Langford, for the sixth time in her career, was named GAC Defensive Player of the Week. Over the past couple matches, she moved into ninth place all-time with 1,082 digs. She leads the GAC with a 4.89 per-set average.
- Leslie was another GAC Player of the Week honoree on Nov. 6. A contender for Player of the Year honors, Leslie is one of only two players – Southern Nazarene's Sunny Batschelett being the other – to rank in the top-10 in three different categories. Leslie is second in hitting (.350), seventh in blocks (0.88) and eighth in points (3.34).
- Middle blocker Avery Hellmuth has climbed in the all-time rankings in the last week. She ranks sixth in OBU history in blocks (283), ninth in aces (72) and tenth in kills (728).
- During the team's current five-match winning streak, freshman Lauren Safrit has really stepped up on both ends. She has averaged 2.25 kills and 3.30 digs per set. Included in that latter statistic was a season-high 20 digs at East Central on Oct. 31.
- West has been on a tear in the last four matches. She has three double-doubles to her credit with a career-high 16 kills against Northwestern and career-best 25 digs at ECU.
- The Bison have kept pace with Harding due in large part to their defense. OBU has won 12 of its last 14 matches and held opponents to a .154 attack mark while recording 2.22 blocks per set. They also have secured 18.78 digs per stanza.
- Coming into Thursday's match, coach Anna Howle's team ranks 40th in D2 in blocks and 29th in digs (17.28).
- After Monday's win against SWOSU, Howle boosted her career win total to 391.
Crimson Storm Notes
- SNU has lost six of seven coming into Shawnee. This past Monday, they lost to East Central 3-1 and moved their record to 15-14.
- This fall, the Storm are 3-7 in true road matches.
- In series history, OBU leads 21-4 over the Storm including winning the last nine. SNU is also just 2-8 in Shawnee dating back to 2010.
- Defense is where SNU sticks out. They are third in the GAC and 21st nationally in digs per set (17.49). They are also fourth in the league in opponent hitting percentage (.171).
- Batschelett is SNU's key offensive player. She is sixth in the GAC in kills (3.34) and points (3.75) and eighth in attack percentage (.287). In the previous match with OBU, she dialed up 15 kills and a .361 attack mark.
- Kaley Brubaker has been near the top of the GAC in assists all year. Currently she is third with a 9.06 average. She did, though, only attain 23 assists in the previous matchup between the teams. That total was her second-fewest in a four-setter in 2023.
- Rounding out SNU's top individual leaders are Madeline Lynch and Whitney Bowie. In digs, Lynch in fourth in the GAC while Bowie sits in ninth in blocks.
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