SHAWNEE – Oklahoma Baptist volleyball picked up a stunner over Southern Nazarene in a 3-2 win on Thursday, Sept. 17, at the Noble Complex. The Bison (11-4, 3-0 GAC) cruised to a 2-0 lead after a dominant first two sets, but had to hold off the Crimson Storm (9-6, 1-2) by rallying in the fifth set to earn a victory.

The first set opened with an SNU kill, but the Bison responded by taking a three-point lead (9-6) early in the set. OBU then reeled off six points in a row, highlighted by two service aces from Ellie Gehrke, to take a commanding 15-6 lead on its way to a 25-18 first-set win.

The Bison were even more dominant in the second set, racing out to an 8-2 lead thanks to four straight aces by Rylee Unruh. Mackenzie Frazee and Addison Dale notched back-to-back kills to close things out 25-13 and give OBU a 2-0 lead in the match.

In the third set, neither team was able to gain a sizable advantage as the biggest lead was just three points for each side. The Bison trailed by just one (24-23) in the late stages, but an attack error would end the comeback bid in a 25-23 third-set win for the Crimson Storm.

Southern Nazarene was able to carry its momentum into the fourth set and used a 7-0 run to turn a tie score into a 12-5 lead. Oklahoma Baptist rallied back several times, but never got within less than two points the rest of the way as the Crimson Storm won the set 25-20 and forced a fifth set.

The Crimson Storm got out to a 5-2 lead in the fifth set, OBU rallied back to even the score at 8-8. A 5-0 run by the Bison midway through the set gave OBU a 13-11 advantage, but SNU rallied once more to tie things up and send the fifth set into extra points.

With the set tied at 16-16, the Bison got back-to-back kills from Taya McReynolds and M. Frazee to thwart Southern Nazarene's comeback bid and keep OBU perfect in conference play.

Lauren Safrit (17), Unruh (17), McReynolds (15), and M. Frazee (13) each tallied double-digit kills, while Unruh added seven aces. Five different Bison notched double0digit digs, including freshman Maddy Kirk, who had 11 and saw her most significant playing time of the season. Emily Boyer had 54 assists, while M. Frazee and Safrit each had three blocks.

Southern Nazarene was paced by Rayanna Mauldin's match-high 20 kills, Kate Wright (15) and Riley Richardson (10) also had double-digit kills. Emma Grace Moddelmog put up 50 assists, and Sydney Marquez had 26 digs. 

The Bison outhit the Crimson Storm .273 to .260, and had 12 aces to SNU's five. Southern Nazarene also hurt itself with 12 service errors.

NOTES

• Oklahoma Baptist improved to 40-33 all-time against Southern Nazarene, including 21-4 in OBU's Division II era (2015-pres.).
• The Bison have won 15 in a row against the Crimson Storm, and have won 45 of 56 sets during that stretch.
• Unruh increased her nation-leading ace total to 40 and has 124 in her time at OBU, good for fifth in program history.
• Boyer increased her career assist total to 2,868, and needs 132 more to become the second player in Oklahoma Baptist history to reach 3,000.
• McReynolds has recorded double-digit kills in three straight matches. She has 44 kills in her last three outings, 15 more than she had in her first three seasons combined.
• Frazee's 13 kills were also a career-high. She hit a blistering .458 in the match, and also had five digs and three blocks.
• Safrit surpassed 500 career kills (511) and also has 916 career digs and 117 career blocks.
• OBU improved to 161-47 at the Noble Complex under head coach Anna Howle.
• Howle earned the 447th victory of her career, bringing her just three away from 450.

 
UP NEXT
Oklahoma Baptist remains home on Tuesday, Sept. 22, hosting Northwestern Oklahoma State at 7 p.m. inside the Noble Complex. The Bison will hit the road on Thursday, Sept. 24, to take on East Central.