BETHANY, Okla. — A slow start turned into a quick finish Friday night as Southern Nazarene rolled through its third straight match and sixth in seven attempts with a 3-0 (25-19, 25-18, 25-18) win over Southwestern Assemblies of God Friday evening.
 
The Crimson Storm (6-4) shared the wealth as five players had at least seven kills and both Kaylee Piatt and Taylor Chase averaged over 10 assists per set. Piatt averaged 12.5 per set, 25 total in two sets, while Chase had 16 in the third set alone.
 
"It was slow going at first, but once we started figuring out what they were doing and where we could go, everything opened up," said SNU Head Coach Kevin Ingram. "It was nice to see the distribution from our setters and get a lot of players involved."
 
Jamie Hope was dominant once again as the senior had her first double-double of the season with 11 kills and 11 digs to go with her five blocks.
 
"She's become one of our most consistent players that we know we can count on," said Ingram. "She's going to come and play hard every single night. It's been fun to watch. She's just playing hard. This is a great place for her to be in right now."
 
Emilee Crawford tied a season-high with 10 kills and added a pair of blocks as well. Taylor Jacobs and Kira Roberts each had eight kills while Emily Dick had seven. Jacobs also added 10 digs while Dick had four digs and two blocks. Abbey Bell chimed in with 12 digs.
 
The Crimson Storm as a team had 58 digs total and seven blocks. SNU hit .282 after hitting .000 through the first 10 points of the match. SNU didn't have a kill until its fifth point of the match as the two teams tied seven times before Crawford broke a 13-13 tie as the first of three straight points. SAGU cut it to 18-16 later in the set, but that was as close as it came.
 
A Lions' attack error early in the second broke a 6-6 tie and sparked a 10-2 run to give SNU a 16-8 lead and the Storm looked to be cruising. SAGU battled back to cut it 22-16, but SNU got two kills from Hope in the final three points to lead 2-0.
 
Six different players recorded kills in the final set as Crawford led the way with six. SNU hit .310 (18-5-42) in the last stanza and never trailed.
 
The Crimson Storm now get set to take on Dallas Baptist and Texas Woman's in Fort Smith, Ark., Saturday at 2 and 6 p.m.