SHAWNEE -- Oklahoma Baptist outlasted Ouachita Baptist in a five-set thriller Friday evening at FireLake Arena, rallying late to secure a 3–2 victory and advance into the Great American Conference Tournament Championship. The Bison won by scores of 25–21, 20–25, 19–25, 25–23, 17–15, using a balanced offensive effort and several key defensive stretches to improve to 21–9 on the season.
Tomorrow at 3 p.m., the fifth-seed Bison will face third-seed Southwestern Oklahoma State in the tourney championship.
OBU's attack came alive behind
Rylee Unruh, who delivered a match-high 20 kills while adding three aces and 23 digs in an all-around standout performance.
Lauren Safrit followed closely with 13 kills and 25 digs, while
Allie Stricker added 12 kills to help stabilize the offense in the later sets. The Bison found their most efficient rhythm in the fourth frame, hitting .224 to extend the match and seize momentum heading into the decisive fifth set.
Setter
Emily Boyer directed the attack with 49 assists while contributing two service aces and 30 digs in a strong two-way performance. Defensively, libero
Karsyn Hunter anchored the back row with a school-record 61 digs, helping OBU withstand long rallies and limit Ouachita's high-powered offense during key stretches.
Mackenzie Frazee and
Lillian Noble added important front-row support, combining for 22 kills and six block assists.
Ouachita, entering with a 26–5 record, leaned heavily on Emily Adams, who paced her team with 21 kills and three block assists. Leah Gardner and Kailey Thedford added 13 and 16 kills respectively as the Tigers hit .167 for the match. Despite strong middle-blocking numbers and a late push in the fifth set, Ouachita could not slow the Bison attack in the closing points.
In the decisive fifth, OBU jumped ahead early before the Tigers battled back to tie the set multiple times. Unruh, Safrit, and Noble delivered clutch swings late, and Boyer's composed setting helped seal the final two points as Oklahoma Baptist completed the comeback with a 17–15 finish.
Saturday's final will be the third matchup this season between SWOSU and OBU. Each team had 3-1 results in their favor during the regular season.
