SHAWNEE – It was a fitting home finale for Oklahoma Baptist volleyball's senior class as the Bison picked up a 3-1 victory over Great American Conference foe East Central on Thursday, Nov. 5 at the Noble Complex.

The Bison (23-5, 15-1 GAC) finished off the season sweep of the Tigers (11-18, 6-10) in front of a fantastic crowd. OBU's senior class of Emily Boyer, Morgan Hamel, Shelby Jabour, Taya McReynolds, Lauren Safrit, and Rylee Unurh were all honored in a pregame ceremony with friends and family.

The first set was tightly contested throughout the early stages, but the Bison used a quick four-point spurt to turn a 12-10 advantage into a 16-10 lead. ECU never really threatened after that as OBU picked up a 25-20 first-set win.

East Central rallied back in the second set by taking an early 7-2 lead and holding off several rallies by Oklahoma Baptist. A 4-0 run by the Tigers in the late stages put the Bison on the brink of defeat, and an attack error would be the final nail in the coffin as ECU won the second set by a score of 25-18.

The third set was also back and forth for much of the early going, with both teams unable to put together a lengthy scoring run. Leading 20-17 late in the set, the Bison scored five of the next six points to snag a 25-18 set victory on a kill by Unruh.

In the fourth set, Oklahoma Baptist found itself tied with East Central at 14-14 before going on a 6-1 run to take a 20-15 lead. After the Tigers scored to make it 20-16, OBU kicked things into high gear and scored the final five points of the match, earning match-point on another kill by Unruh for a 25-16 fourth-set win.

Unruh led all players with 19 kills while tallying 13 digs. McReynolds and Safrit each had eight kills, while Safrit finished with a team-high 18 digs. Boyer tallied 40 assists to go along with 14 digs and a pair of aces. Mackenzie Frazee added six kills, six blocks, three digs, and two aces, while Elle Parisi (15) and Ellie Gehrke (11) reached double-digits in digs.

The Bison hit just .154 in the match but held the Tigers to a paltry .078. ECU was solid defensively, however, with eight team blocks and a pair of players with 20+ digs in Breana Timms (26) and Emily Pena (25).

Oklahoma Baptist and East Central will meet for a third time this season in the first round of next week's GAC Tournament in Enid. The Bison enter as the top seed while the Tigers are the eighth seed. The first round matchup is set for Wednesday, Nov. 11, at 3 p.m. at the Stride Bank Center.

NOTES

• Oklahoma Baptist improved to 20-9 all-time against East Central, including a 19-6 mark in the Division II era
• Unruh recorded her 19th kill-dig double-double of the season, and has a double-double in seven straight matches
• Boyer recorded 40 or more assists for the fourth match in a row and the 13th time this season
• Frazee surpassed 100 blocks for the season, increasing her season total to 105
• Next week's GAC Tournament matchup with ECU will be the second postseason meeting between the schools
• OBU defeated the Tigers 3-0 in the first round of the Spring 2021 GAC Tournament

UP NEXT
Oklahoma Baptist faces East Central in the first round of the 2026 GAC Tournament next Wednesday, Nov. 11, at 3 p.m. at the Stride Bank Center in Enid. The winner will advance to face the winner of the Southwestern Oklahoma State/Arkansas Tech match in the semifinals at 5 p.m. on Nov. 12. The GAC Tournament title match is slated for 3 p.m. on Nov. 13.