TAMPA, FL – A thrilling 3-2 victory over #17 Missouri-St. Louis was the highlight of day one of the Tampa Volleyball Classic as Oklahoma Baptist volleyball earned a split against a pair of nationally-ranked foes on Friday, Sept. 4 at the Bob Martinez Athletics Center.

The Bison (6-2) rallied past UMSL to win 3-2 in the first match of the day, but was unable to get past #4 Tampa in the nightcap, falling 3-0 to last year's national runner-up. OBU is back in action at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 5 when it takes on Francis Marion to cap off a four-match road trip.

Match 1: OBU 3, UMSL 2 (25-16, 19-25, 25-27, 26-24, 15-11)
Oklahoma Baptist earned its second win over a ranked opponent this week when it took down #17 Missouri-St. Louis in five sets. The Bison broke through in the first set when they reeled off 11-straight points to turn a one-point deficit (12-11) into a 22-12 lead en route to a first-set win. Rylee Unruh tallied four aces during the scoring run to ignite OBU's offense.

In the second set, Oklahoma Baptist never really found its footing as the Tritons went on several scoring runs to take the second set by a 25-19 score. UMSL carried the momentum into the third set by grabbing an early 3-0 lead.

Both teams mounted several runs throughout the remainder of the set, but the Tritons were able to hold off a furious Bison rally to win the third set by two points (27-25). OBU went on an 8-0 run midway through the fourth set and staved off defeat by scoring the final three points of the set to win 26-24 on back-to-back blocks.

The Bison largely dominated the final set, scoring six of the final seven points to pull away for a 15-11 set victory to take down the Tritons. Unruh (14), Mackenzie Frazee (11) and Bella Chittum (11) each tallied double-digit kills, while Emily Boyer added 34 assists. OBU finished with 12 blocks to UMSL's six.

Match 2: UT 3, OBU 0 (26-24, 25-19, 25-14)
In the second match of the day, the Bison squared off with one of the top programs in the country in No. 4 Tampa. OBU raced out to a 12-4 lead in the first set, but the Spartans rallied and scored eight of the final nine points of the set to win 26-24.

Oklahoma Baptist put up a solid effort in the second and third sets, but Tampa found ways to mount several solid scoring runs to finish things off with set wins of 25-19 and 25-14. The Spartans used a balance effort to hit .320 on the night, while the Bison managed to hit just .109.

NOTES
• Oklahoma Baptist fell to 3-1 against nationally ranked opponents this season following Friday night's loss to #4 Tampa.
• The Bison previously defeated #19 West Texas A&M, #15 Central Oklahoma and #17 Missouri-St. Louis.
• Emily Boyer reached 2,600 career assists during Friday night's match. She is 400 assists shy of becoming the second player in OBU history to reach 3,000.
• Boyer also now has 131 career aces, and needs just seven more to set the program record.
• Rylee Unruh now has 961 career kills and 1,035 career digs, leaving her 39 kills shy of the 1,000-kill/1,000-dig club.

UP NEXT
Oklahoma Baptist will finish off its trip to Florida with a single match against Francis Marion on Saturday, Sept. 5 at 3:30 p.m. to end the Tampa Volleyball Classic. The Bison open conference action at home on Sept. 8 against Southeastern Oklahoma State, and will host a portion of the 2026 GAC-MIAA Crossover from Sept. 10-11.