Box Score
BETHANY — Ever get that feeling that you just missed something special? Southern Nazarene certainly did after No. 20 Oklahoma Baptist took a 3-1 (23-25, 15-25, 25-23, 25-22) win away inside the Sawyer Center.
The Crimson Storm (21-12, 6-6 SAC) took the first set and either had a lead or were tied late in the third and fourth sets.
Sarah Groesbeck matched her conference high with 21 digs as SNU posted its third highest dig total this season with 78. Both Brittany Sexton and Ellen Martin each notched 12 digs while KateLyn Biddy had 10. Martin also was just two kills shy of a double-double with eight. Kira Roberts also posted three blocks.
Taryn Steele was two digs short of a double-double with eight and she also dished out 33 assists. Morgan Loewen led the way offensively with 11 kills and had three assists and seven digs. Danielle Hampton also ripped double-figure kills with 10 and served a pair of aces.
OBU's Rupia Ink led the way for the Bison as she blasted 23 kills and hit .333 (23-6-51).
The Bison jumped out to a 6-3 lead in the first set, but SNU answered with a 6-2 run to take its first lead of the match at 9-8 on a Martin ace. After three four straight ties, the Storm broke a 12-12 tie with consecutive kills by Loewen and Danielle. OBU tied it at 14-14, but SNU stretched it back out to 16-14 with a Martin kill and a Bison error. The Storm took their biggest leads of the set at 18-15 and at 20-17 before the Bison scored three straight, with two points coming off SNU errors, to tie it at 20-20. The Bison then broke a 22-22 tie on an SNU error, but the Storm responded with a Loewen kill and got an error from OBU to take get point at 24-23. Loewen gave the Storm the set as she closed it out with an ace.
It was all OBU in the second set as it hit .320 (11-3-25) while holding the storm to a -.037 (6-7-27) clip. The Bison broke the set open early with a 14-5 run to jump out to a 21-9 lead and cruised from there.
The Storm came out on fire in the third set and flew out to an 8-2 lead, but the Bison answered back with an 11-4 run to take a 13-12 lead. After three straight ties, OBU took a 19-16 lead and led 21-18 before kills from Hampton and Steele, along with an OBU error, tied the match at 21. SNU tied it again at 22 and 23, but an SNU error and a Cami Weimer ace gave the set and a 2-1 match lead to the Bison.
The Bison looked to be putting the match away early in the fourth set taking a 9-2 lead, SNU got right back into it with a run of its own. A Bison service error sparked an 11-3 run and a Hampton ace capped it as SNU took a 13-12 lead. SNU had a 17-14 lead in the fourth, but an OBU kill and two SNU errors tied it up at 17. Two more errors and another Inck kill made it 20-18 for OBU and the Bison never trailed from there. SNU cut to one at 22-21 and 23-22 before Inck and Tarah Derden closed it out with a pair of kills.
SNU now hits the road for the last time with a match at Texas Wesleyan, Tuesday, for a 7 p.m. start, before ending the season with back-to-back home matches.
