SHAWNEE – Oklahoma Baptist's 3-1 win over Southern Nazarene helped the program win a share of the Great American Conference regular season title on Thursday at the Noble Complex. It was the Bison's first regular season title since 2021 and fourth overall.
Next week, the Bison, who will be the No. 2 seed, will face off with 7-seed Ouachita in the GAC Tournament quarterfinals held in Hot Springs, Arkansas.
Key Leaders
- Senior D'Erricka Frierson, who was honored prior to the match, had 18 kills, one off her career-high.
- Lauren Safrit dialed up another double-double, her fifth, with 16 kills and 13 digs.
- Senior Jenna West also notched a double-double with 13 kills and 23 digs.
- Abrey Galt's 52 assists weren't only a career-high but were just two away from the program single-game record for a four-setter.
- Avery Hellmuth notched five blocks assists while senior Maci Langford added 17 digs.
- Plus, senior Kaelyn Ina added seven assists and season-high 12 digs.
First Set
The opening stanza of the Bison's senior night started off rocky with a loss of 25-23. Neither team was consistent on offense, but for the Bison, there were just too many errors. The green and gold had five attack miscues which kept SNU around. Down the stretch with the score tied at 21, the Storm scored four of the next five. Tessa Henry had three of those kills to aid the visitors.
Southern Nazarene also had two service aces in the set.
Second Set
Jill Leslie sparked a hot finish for OBU who won 25-21 in the second. Leslie had back-to-back aces when the set was tied at 21. She ended up with a career-high four in the match. Before those service points, the Bison were down 21-18 and got a couple Frierson kills to get in motion. By the end of the stanza, Frierson and Safrit had four kills while Leslie also added three.
Third Set
Going into the third, the Bison turned up the offensive pressure to a total of 21 kills. They hit an outstanding .474 as well. Frierson led with seven kills and a .500 attack mark. West added six as the green and gold had leads of 17-8 and 22-12 in the third. By the end, OBU won 25-15.
Fourth Set
OBU had a bit of a slow start, trailing 6-2 after a kill by Sunny Batschelett in the fourth. However, they shook that off and later tied the set at 6-6 on a Safrit kill. After that, it was back and forth. Midway through, a block by SNU's Henry and Whitney Bowie tied the scoreboard again at 13-all. Ina and Hellmuth then lifted the home team. An ace by Ina and kill by Hellmuth pushed the team's lead to 18-15. That mini spurt was all OBU needed as it eventually won 25-22 on another Safrit point.
On The Horizon
With the win, the Bison will face Ouachita in the GAC Tournament next week. Earlier this season, the Tigers defeated the Bison 3-1.
