Box Score (Match 1)
Box Score (Match 2)

BETHANY, Okla. — Southern Nazarene was dealt its first bit of adversity Saturday morning but SNU responded in impressive fashion with sweep in its final match of the SNU/OCU Classic.

The Crimson Storm (3-1) opened the day with a 3-1 (25-17, 19-25, 11-25, 17-25) loss to College of the Ozarks (Mo.), before routing Tabor (Kan.), 3-0 (25-23, 25-16, 25-19).

“We had a great start to the season and I am very excited to see how we're already putting into play the things we've been working on in practice,” said SNU Head Coach Kevin Ingram. “It's also nice to see the team support for each other and how they continue to come together.”

In the opener, it looked like SNU might be en route to a roll of Ozarks after taking the first set with relative ease, but it was all Bobcats from the second set on

A Taylor Jacobs kill broke open the first set from a 9-9 tie and sparked a 9-3 run as the Storm took an 18-12 lead. Ozarks closed it to 18-15 with three straight points, but SNU closed out the set with a 7-2 to run to lead 1-0. Jacobs had five kills in the set alone while Kaylee Piatt served a trio of aces.

The Bobcats controlled the next two sets nearly from start to finish. Ozarks opened the second with a 7-2 run, but SNU answered with an 8-2 run to take a 10-9 lead. The Storm led 15-14 midway through the second, but the Bobcats scored the next four points and closed the set with an 11-4 run.

It was all Ozarks in the third and fourth sets as SNU was held to a .023 (6-5-23) clip in the third and a .023 (12-11-43) clip in the fourth as well.

Ellen Martin led the way for the Storm with 12 kills and eight digs. She also had four aces. Jacobs added 10 kills to go with her three digs and three blocks. Jamie Hope ripped eight kills and posted three blocks.

Piatt had a match high 32 assists and notched a double-double with 23 digs. Piatt also posted four blocks. KateLyn Biddy notched double-figure digs with 13. Natalia Oliveira was just short of a double-double with seven kills and nine digs.

In the second match, SNU got a double-double each from Oliveira and Piatt. Oliveira led the way with 12 kills and 16 digs to go with a pair of aces while Piatt dished out 36 assists and posted 10 digs. She also served a pair of aces. Kira Roberts ripped 10 kills and hit .350 (10-3-20) for the match. Martin totaled nine kills and posted four blocks. She also served a pair of aces.

Emily Troup and Biddy each totaled 11 digs while Jacobs had four blocks.

SNU never trailed in the first set, but never led by more than five at any point in time. The Storm led 21-16 late in the set when the Blue Jays made a 7-2 run to tie it at 23, but a Hope kill and an Oliveira ace put the set away.

The Storm controlled the second from beginning to end and never trailed the entire match until Tabor took a 10-9 lead. That was also the only lead Tabor had as SNU answered to lead 11-10 and then broke a 12-12 tie with a 13-7 run to close out the match.

The Crimson Storm now get set to head to the C of O Mazzio's Classic at the College of Ozarks in Branson, Mo., Sept. 2-3.

“I am looking forward to next weekend,” said Ingram. “This should be another solid tournament that will continue to show us where we are.”