SHAWNEE – Oklahoma Baptist volleyball remained undefeated in Great American Conference play with a 3-0 sweep over Henderson State on Thursday, Oct. 15 at the Noble Complex.

The Bison (18-4, 10-0 GAC) put up a stout defense against the Reddies (11-11, 5-5) holding them to a hitting percentage of just .118 and allowing OBU to maintain control to pick up its ninth consecutive win.

The Bison took the first set with a 25-19 victory. The Reddies struck first by opening with a kill by Lasheena Gooseberry.

The score ignited the Reddies offense and allowed them to pull ahead midway through set with a three-score rally for a 12-10 advantage. T
he Bison immediately responded with five unanswered points to take the lead. The rally featured a pair of kills for both Rylee Unruh and Melody Donegan.

The Reddies nearly recaptured the lead late in the match by cutting the deficit within one point, but Emily Boyer assisted the final point to Mackenzie Frazee to put the Bison up 1-0 on the match.

The second set held in favor of Oklahoma Baptist, opening with a kill by Addison Dale assisted by Boyer. The Bison took control early with a five-point rally capped off by a kill from Frazee to take a 10-5 lead.

The Bison maintained the lead for the remainder of the set and claimed a 25-14 victory.

In the final set, Gooseberry once again opened with a kill to give the Reddies a quick advantage. Shortly after, the Bison recorded four kills in a row for a 7-4 lead. That run included back-to-back kills by Taya McReynolds. As the set hung into balance, the Reddies rallied back from a six-score deficit with nine unanswered points to take a 20-18 lead late in the set.

However, the late game rally did not deter the Bison as they would pick up four of six points to tie up the game at 24-24, sending the final set into extra points. The game concluded with a hit out of bounds to give the Bison a 27-25 victory.

Unruh led all players with 13 kills while McReynolds had 12 and Frazee tallied eight. During the match, Frazee recorded an ace and four blocks, placing her one away from 200 career blocks.

Boyer put up a match-high 39 assists, while Unruh (21), Boyer (20), Elle Parisi (15), and Ellie Gehrke (13) each had double-digit dig totals.

NOTES

• Oklahoma Baptist improved to 10-3 all-time against Henderson State and has now beaten the Reddies seven times in a row.
• The Bison's nine-match winning streak is its best since also winning nine in a row during the 2023 campaign, a streak that included six regular-season and three GAC Tournament victories.
• It is the longest regular-season win streak since OBU won 10 in a row during the 2021 season.
• Thursday's victory was the 250^th win of the Division II era for the Bison. OBU is 250-117 since joining the Division II ranks.
• OBU is now 12-0 this season when hitting .200 or better
• Unruh recorded her 13^th kill-dig double-double of the season with 13 kills and 21 digs against Henderson State.
• Oklahoma Baptist is 15-1 when holding opponents to .200 or lower on the attack, with its lone loss coming to then #25 Emporia State on Sept. 10.

UP NEXT
Oklahoma Baptist remains at home when it faces Ouachita Baptist on Friday, Oct. 16 at 3 p.m. at the Noble Complex in a battle of the GAC's top two teams.