ENID, OK – Oklahoma Baptist volleyball opened the 2026 Great American Conference Tournament in emphatic fashion with a 3-0 sweep of eighth-seeded East Central on Wednesday, Nov. 11, at the Stride Bank Center in Enid.

The top-seeded Bison (24-5) advanced to the semifinal round by defeating the Tigers (11-19) for the third time this season. With the win, OBU advances to the semifinals for the seventh time in program history and will face either the fourth-seeded Southwestern Oklahoma State or fifth-seeded Arkansas Tech at 5 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 12, for a spot in the GAC Championship match.

Oklahoma Baptist dominated the entire match, racing out to a 4-0 lead in the first set en route to a 25-14 first-set win. ECU never got closer than three points during the opening set, as the Bison used three different 4-0 runs to pull ahead. A kill from Rylee Unruh and back-to-back East Central attack errors were the final three points of the set.

In the second set, OBU trailed early before mounting a 6-0 run to turn a two-point deficit (6-4) into a 10-6 lead. The Bison also scored four in a row in the late stages to turn a five-point lead (18-13) into a 22-13 advantage. As was the case in the first set East Central committed back-to-back errors again, once on a serve and another on the attack, to close out the set for a 25-15 OBU victory.

The third set proved to be the most competitive of the afternoon as the teams went back and forth throughout the first several rallies. With the score tied at 5-5, Oklahoma Baptist scored four in a row to go up 9-5 and seize momentum. A 6-1 run later in the set pushed OBU's lead to 17-8, and the Bison cruised to a 25-18 third-set win.

Rylee Unruh led all players with 12 kills while tallying nine digs and two block assists. Mackenzie Frazee finished with 10 kills, two block assists, two digs, and an ace, while Emily Boyer tallied a match-high 24 assists to go along with five kills and five digs. Lauren Safrit chipped in with five kills of her own, and Elle Parisi finished with 10 digs and three aces.

Oklahoma Baptist hit .257 on the attack while limiting East Central to just .057, and finished with an 11-3 advantage in blocks and a 5-1 edge in service aces. Addison Iman led the Tigers with nine kills while Tatum Flemming (14) and Emily Pena (11) each tallied double-digit assist totals.

NOTES

• Oklahoma Baptist improved to 16-5 all-time in the GAC Tournament, including a 7-3 mark in the first round.
• The Bison also moved to 21-9 in the all-time series with ECU, which includes a 2-0 record when facing the Tigers in the GAC Tournament.
• OBU has won 24 of 35 first-round sets in GAC Tournament play, and 53 of 76 total in conference tournament action.
• The Bison held East Central to a .057 attack percentage, the lowest by an OBU opponent in GAC Tournament history.
• It was the lowest percentage by any OBU opponent since Northwestern Oklahoma State hit .049 on Nov. 11, 2025.
• Unruh has now recorded 96 kills in five GAC Tournament matches in her career (19.2 kills/match).

UP NEXT
Oklahoma Baptist will face Southwestern Oklahoma State in the semifinal round at 5 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 12. The winner advances to Friday's tournament championship match with a chance to earn the GAC's automatic bid to the NCAA Central Regional.