Box Score SHAWNEE – A competitive five-set battle saw the Bison fall to the Storm in the opening match of conference play.
Bison Volleyball began conference play at home as the green and gold hosted Southeastern Oklahoma State on Tuesday evening.
The nightcap meeting ended in favor of the Storm. The opening set saw OBU on top at 25-15. The following pair of sets ended 25-21 and 25-20 for SE. Set four saw the Bison back in charge with a close 25-23 finish but the fifth set went to visitors with a 15-13 final.
Over the course of five sets, the green and gold totaled 77.0 points, 66 kills, four aces, seven blocks, 58 assists and 104 digs.
Avery Hellmuth led the pack with 20 kills, her new season high, matching her career high from the 2022 season.
Rylee Unruh tallied a new career high of 16 kills.
Jill Leslie totaled two aces for the Bison while
Emily Boyer and Hellmuth each contributed an ace as well. Hellmuth compiled three blocks, Leslie and Boyer each tallied two-a-piece. Boyer amassed 53 assists.
Set 1
SE was first to the board in the opening set.
Jh'Kyah Head claimed the first point for the Bison with a kill. Another shot from the Storm tallied the second point but back-to-back kills from Leslie and Unruh saw the green and gold first to point three. The set continued in the same back and forth fashion. Tied up at 7-7, OBU kicked things into gear with a 4-0 run consisting of kills from Leslie (2), Head (1), and
Allie Stricker (1). With an 18-13 lead, an error from the Storm induced another three-score run for the home team with another kill from Leslie and a block from Boyer to bring the total to 21-13 for OBU. Another error from the visitors and a pair of kills from Head saw the Bison at match point. An SE block scored their final point but another error from the Storm sealed the deal on set one with a 25-15 final for OBU.
Set 2
The second set saw the visitors take the opening point. At 1-1, SE claimed the next three points for a 4-1 lead. Unruh and Hellmuth added a pair of kills but another 3-0 run from the Storm saw the Bison down by four. Hellmuth tallied the sixth point for OBU with a kill but the visitors claimed another trio of points to bring their lead to 12-6. Another 3-0 run from SE incited a three-score run from OBU with a kill from Unruh, an ace from Leslie and a block from Hellmuth and Unruh. The Storm was first to 20 after a kill but Unruh started another 3-0 run for the Bison to make it a one point game. A pair of points came in for SE to bring the total to 22-19. OBU took the next two points, but the following three points went to the Storm for a 25-21 final.
Set 3
Leslie got things started early for the Bison with a kill to see OBU on the board first. SE came back with a single point to tie things up but the green and gold kicked things into gear, taking the next five consecutive points. With a 6-1 lead, the visitors added another point, but the home team went on a 3-0 run to put SE down by seven. The next four points went to the Storm to bring their deficit to three points. A service error from SE and a kill from Boyer sent the Bison into double digits at 11-6. The set continued in the same fashion with OBU first to see the 20
th point. The Storm came in hot with a 9-0 run to shut down the green and gold and close out the set at 25-20.
Set 4
The visitors took the first pair of points to open up the fourth set. With a 7-4 lead, a couple of errors from the Storm made it a one-point game. As SE led 12-9, an error from the visitors sent things into motion for OBU with a four-score run to take the lead. The remainder of the set saw five more ties with a four-score run from the Storm and a 6-0 run for the green and gold with kills from
Kenedy Houchin,
Mackenzie Frazee, three from Hellmuth and a block from Hellmuth for a 23-21 score. Another pair of points came from SE but Hellmuth claimed the final two for OBU, closing out the set at 25-23, forcing a fifth and final round.
Set 5
SE was first on the board in the fifth set with a couple of points. The Storm led at 5-1 but Hellmuth got things rolling for the home team for a 4-0 run to tie things up at 5-5. The rest of the set saw three ties, but a three-score run put the visitors in the lead at 10-8. From there the battle went back and forth as each team took turns going point for point. A service error from the Storm brought the total to 13 for OBU but a strong SE defense blocked the final attempt for the Bison to keep the game alive, ending with a 15-13 final.
The green and gold will be back in action on Thursday as OBU Volleyball with go head-to-head with Newman University at 3:30 p.m. on the road. The matchup against the Jets will begin a four-game weekend for the Bison with a pair of matches Friday and one on Saturday, all on the road. For the full schedule, click
here.
