SHAWNEE – OBU Volleyball laid the Rangers to rest with a clean sweep at home to secure their second win of conference play on Thursday evening.
The green and gold dominated the first couple of sets with back-to-back 25-13 totals and a 29-27 final in the third set, securing the sweep for the Bison.
Oklahoma Baptist Volleyball compiled 67.0 points, 54 kills, eight blocks, five aces, 44 assists and 71 digs. The Bison offense saw
Jill Leslie at the helm with 15 kills.
Jh'Kyah Head totaled 12 kills and
Avery Hellmuth tallied 11.
Emily Boyers claimed three aces and
Rylee Unruh added two. Head led the OBU defense with four blocks while Hellmuth and Leslie each added a couple. Boyer totaled 38 assists and 18 digs to lead the green and gold.
Set 1
In the opening stanza, Leslie put the Bison on the board first with a kill. Northwestern Oklahoma State University took the next pair of points to steal the lead. OBU answered with a couple of points to snag the lead back. A 3-0 run from the Rangers came next to reclaim the lead but the green and gold added a pair of points to the board to tie things up at 5-5. The set saw another tie at the sixth point, but a slick three-score run from the visitors saw the Bison down by three at 9-6. OBU didn't stay down for long, going on a 3-0 run themselves to tie things up again. The visitors were first to double digits, but
Allie Stricker laid down a kill to meet the Rangers at 10-10. The next couple of points tied until Head stepped up with a trio of consecutive kills, followed by a kill from Leslie, two blocks from Head, one from Leslie and one from Unruh to give the Bison a quick six-point lead at 18-12. OBU did not stop there, claiming the next six points to make it a 12-0 run consisting of kills from Unruh (2), Leslie (2), Head (1), and an error from the visitors to bring the total to 24-12. A kill brought in the final point for NWOSU but an error from the Rangers gave the Bison the final word with a 25-13 ending to start off the evening.
Set 2
The second set saw the Bison come out with an infectious energy, taking the first 11 points unanswered. The 11-point run saw kills from Leslie (3), Stricker (3), Head (1), a block from Head, a pair of aces from Boyer and a couple of Ranger errors. The visitors chipped away at the deficit, but not quick enough. With a 17-6 lead, Hellmuth and Leslie added a couple of kills and a block from Leslie put the green and gold up, 20-6. NWOSU saw a couple of back-to-back points, but the OBU defense slammed the door on the visitors' efforts with a block from Hellmuth and Boyer to end the set 25-13.
Set 3
The Rangers saved their fight for the third set. A competitive set three opened with an ace from Boyer but the red and black responded with three points to take the lead. The Bison got back to work, taking the next couple of points with a pair of kills from Head to tie things up at 3-3. With four ties along the way, the visitors' claimed the lead with a kill and a Bison error for a 9-7 score. The two-point lead didn't last long as Head came in with another kill from OBU and an error from NWOSU knotted things up. The Rangers caught some wind with a 4-0 run to take the lead at 15-11. A kill from the red and black and an error from OBU saw the visitors up by five but the Bison kicked things into gear, taking the next four points with a trifecta of kills from Hellmuth and a kill from Boyer to bring the total to 18-17. The Rangers took the next four points, but OBU replied with five to tie things up at 22. An error from the visitors started the run while Stricker (2), Leslie (1) and a pair of errors made room for the green and gold at the 22-point mark. The red and black took the next two points but Stricker and Leslie led the offense with a kill each and Head blocked the Rangers' efforts, putting OBU up 25-24. After three more ties, knotted up at 27-27, Head came in clutch with a kill and Boyer finished the job for the Bison with a kill to close things out at 29-27 and 3-0 for the home team.
Next up
The green and gold will see a break in place of the typical midweek meeting, making the next match for OBU on Thursday, Oct. 10. The 3:30 p.m. match time will see the Bison welcome the Ouachita Baptist Tigers to Noble Complex.
