ALVA – Northwestern Oklahoma State (5-7, 2-0 GAC) claimed a 3-1 win over Oklahoma Baptist (6-6, 0-1 GAC) on Tuesday night at Percefull Fieldhouse. It was the Rangers' first win over the Bison in Alva since the 2018 season, a span of five matches.
Key Leaders
OH
D'Erricka Frierson: Playing for the first time in 11 days, she secured a team-high 13 kills.
S
Emily Boyer: Dished out a season-high 23 assists.
OH
Lauren Safrit: Went for nine kills and 19 digs, a season-high.
RS:
Jh'Kyah Head: Hit a team-high .429 with 10 kills.
MB
Jill Leslie: Tallied 11 kills, one solo block and three block assists.
Northwestern's Erika Asencio Soriano registered a match-high 23 kills.
First Set
The Bison got off to a great start in the first as they led 5-1. OBU hit .500 up to that point while holding the hosts to a -.025 mark. However, OBU cooled off, committed six attack errors in the first and watched as the Rangers came back. Soriano paced Northwestern with six kills and with the set tied at 10-10, NWOSU reeled off a 9-3 run. For the Bison, Safrit contributed five kills.
Set Two
Led by a .292 attack mark, the Rangers tallied more kills than OBU (18-13) and won the second, 25-22. NWOSU scored seven of the first 10 points before the Bison rallied. Head registered two kills,
Maci Langford provided an ace and after a Frierson point, the Bison trailed 12-11. After that, though, Northwestern held off the visitors and scored six of the next seven points. The last of those, an Ece Ozdemir kill, pushed the Rangers back up six, 18-12. OBU got to within two points on three occasions after that but couldn't overcome the gap.
Set Three
The most competitive of all the sets, there were nine ties and four lead changes in the third. For OBU, it staved off defeat with a late push. Trailing 23-21, the green and gold got a pair of kills from Leslie and Frierson and two errors by the Rangers to win 25-23. Frierson had eight kills in this frame to lead.
Set Four
In a snap of the fingers, the Rangers were up 9-2 which triggered an OBU timeout. The fourth and final stanza of the night saw Northwestern commit just three errors. As for OBU, it had four attack errors and a half-dozen reception errors in the 25-15 fourth-set loss. Cameron Lobb, Northwestern's GAC Newcomer of the Year a season ago, tallied four aces for her team. Ivanny Blackwood added five kills as the hosts hit .320.
On The Horizon
The Bison's first home match of the season comes in two nights. They will host East Central at 7 p.m. on Thursday inside the Noble Complex.
