Box Score BETHANY, Okla. — Good teams find ways to win despite staring adversity straight in the face. For Southern Nazarene, staring down a 2-0 deficit with an undefeated Great American Conference record on the line couldn't get much worse.
 
The Crimson Storm though never lost focus and never stopped fighting and roared back for a 3-2 (23-25, 23-25, 25-23, 29-27, 15-8) win over East Central Tuesday night.
 
Southern Nazarene actually held late leads in the first two sets. The Storm were up 23-21 in the first set before East Central scored the final four points of the set to take a 1-0 lead in the match. SNU was also up 22-18 in the first set, but ECU's Hayley Gerken sparked a 7-1 run to give the Tigers the set and a 2-0 lead heading into the break.
 
The Storm came out on fire though in the third set. SNU raced out a 7-2 lead and never trailed the entire set. ECU did work its way back into the set to tie it at 16, but a three-point run that was capped by a Taylor Chase ace gave SNU a 19-16 lead. The Tigers again came within one at 23-22, but a kill by Emily Dick and a kill by Taylor Jacobs gave SNU another chance as it trailed 2-1 in the match.
 
"I really didn't have to say much after the second," said SNU Head Coach Kevin Ingram. "I just let them figure it out. We were in control the first two sets. We just had to realize we were capable of playing better than what we were. We just needed to clean things up and be more aggressive."
 
In the fourth set, it looked like East Central was in total control and on its way to a four-set victory.
 
Somebody forgot to tell SNU though.
 
ECU gave up two straight errors before taking an 11-17 lead, but Jamie Hope ripped a kill and then Jacobs followed suit with two more kills to cut it to 17-14 and forced an ECU timeout. The Tigers kept SNU at bay and were up 23-19 when back-to-back kills by Kira Roberts made it 23-21 and forced ECU's final timeout. The Storm answered with a Jacobs kill and an ECU error tied it at 23-23. The Tigers got match point at 24-23, but a Jacobs kill tied it at 24. The Tigers again had match point at 25-24 before back-to-back errors gave SNU set point at 26-25. The Storm had set point at 27-26 before an ECU kill tied it at 27. The Storm finally took the set on two straight kills by Jacobs and took all that momentum into the final set.
 
"You just have to be good and you don't have to be great at that point," said Ingram. "You just have to play it one ball at a time; keep believing and keep staying positive. Those girls continued to fight when most teams are done at that point."
 
It was all SNU in the fifth set as the Storm hit .400 (8-2-15) and held the Tigers to a .000 clip. Jacobs had four kills and hit .667 in the final set. Southern Nazarene led from start to finish and never looked back. SNU raced out to an 8-3 lead before the change and held off ECU in every turn the rest of the way.
 
"I am just so proud of this team for fighting though this," said Ingram. "They could have easily just folded up and they didn't."
 
Kaylee Piatt dished out a career-high 54 assists and notched 11 digs for her eighth double-double of the season. She also added three blocks. The 54 assists were the eight most assists in a single-game in school history. Jacobs also tied a career-high with 28 kills and hit .333 on the night. The junior also had 13 digs for her 10^th double-double of the season and added two aces. For the second time this season, Hope tied her career-high for blocks with eight. The senior was just two blocks and one kill shy of a triple double with nine kills and 16 digs. Emily Dick also had eight kills and two blocks.
 
Abbey Bell and Kaitlyn Belanger combined for 32 digs as Bell had 19 and Belanger had 13.
 
The Storm got out hit .211 to .219, but out dug East Central 86-78. Also for just the third time this season, SNU was out blocked as ECU had 12 and SNU had nine.
 
The win now sets up a match Thursday between the top two teams in the Great American Conference. Harding, who was picked to win the GAC, will come into the Sawyer Center for the first time in school history with an 18-7 overall record and a perfect 7-0 record in the GAC. First serve is set for 7 p.m.