SHAWNEE – Rylee Unruh tallied 13 kills and Oklahoma Baptist volleyball knocked off #15 Central Oklahoma, 3-0, to pick up its second-straight win over a ranked opponent. The Bison (5-0) snapped a five-match losing streak to the Bronchos (3-2) and extended their own win streak to five games, the best start to a season in five years.

Unruh also finished with 11 digs, falling just one short of picking up career dig number 1,000 in front of a raucous home crowd. The Bison also got solid defensive efforts from Elle Parisi (17) and Lauren Safrit (12), who each finished with double-digit digs. Mackenzie Frazee finished with six kills and six block assists, while Unruh and Emily Boyer each had three. Boyer also had a team-high 28 assists, and Melody Donegan contributed seven kills.

OBU found itself trailing 7-2 early in the first set, but four quick points cut the deficit to two (7-6). Trailing 17-12 in the latter stages of set one, the Bison scored eight points in a row to take a 20-17 lead and closed things out with three-straight points to take a 25-22 first-set win.

In the second set, the Bison built a 15-7 lead before holding off several Broncho rallies. OBU again scored three more in a row to close out the set on kills by Addison Dale, Reese Renfrow, and Unruh, taking a 2-0 lead thanks to a 25-18 second-set win.

The third and final set saw UCO take the early edge, leading by as many as four before a 6-1 OBU run gave the Bison a 15-14 advantage. The squads traded jabs throughout the rest of the set before a late ace by Boyer and an attack error gave the Bison a 25-22 third-set win.

The Bison will head to Florida later this week with contests at Florida Southern (Sept. 3) and three matches at the Tampa Volleyball Classic against #17 Missouri-St. Louis (Sept. 4), #4 Tampa (Sept. 4), and Francis Marion (Sept. 5)

NOTES

• Unruh now sits at 999 career digs and 924 career kills, setting her up to join a rare 1,000/1,000 club
• The win snapped a five-match losing streak to the Bronchos and evened the all-time series at 17-17
• It also snapped a string of three-straight losses in home openers
• OBU improved to 158-45 inside the Noble Complex
• Head coach Anna Howle picked up her 441st career victory
• Boyer finished with three aces, putting her 11 away from setting a school record for career aces
• The victory gives OBU consecutive wins over ranked opponents for the first time in a full Division II season
  • The Bison defeated two-straight ranked opponents in 2020, but the season was upended by COVID19 and no NCAA Tournament took place