BETHANY, Okla. — Not since Kevin Ingram took over the program in 2001 has Southern Nazarene been able to top Midwestern State, but just like many things around SNU, change is happening.
 
The Crimson Storm (7-2) won their fourth straight and seventh of their last eight with a 3-2 (20-25, 25-14, 25-17,17-25, 15-13) win over Midwestern State Tuesday night in the home opener. It was the second straight five-set match inside the Sawyer Center with the Mustangs (4-5) going back to last season and the third five-set match this year for SNU; and the Storm have won all three.

"We've got some good things going right now, but we're still not as consistent as any coach would like their team to be," said Ingram. "We still have plenty of room to improve, but we are showing some good signs. You can definitely tell we have an older team. When we face adversity or get into tight situations, we're able to find a way to play through it and win games."
 
Taylor Jacobs totaled a season-high 19 kills and hit .286 on the night to lead the way for SNU. She also had five blocks, two aces and four digs. Emily Dick tied a career-high for kills and percentage as the senior had 11 and hit .500. She also added three blocks. Emilee Crawford was also in double figures with 10 kills and she added four digs and two blocks. Kaylee Piatt recorded her fourth 40-assist match with 48 and was just a dig off a double-double with nine. She also had five kills and four blocks.
 
"Taylor and Kaylee are two highly motivated athletes who have a ton of experience," said Ingram. "They are definitely key and they haven't missed a beat yet."
 
Abbey Bell and Elyse Berlin combined for 43 digs as Bell posted a season-high 23 while Berlin had 20. Courtney Bowie also had four blocks.
 
For the first time this season, the Crimson Storm were out blocked as MSU had 10 while SNU had nine. The Storm though hit .233 (57-20-159) while holding the Mustangs to just a .164 clip.
 
In the first set, the Storm had momentum rolling their way with an 18-16 lead before MSU closed out the set with a 9-2 run. The key point in that run was what looked to be a clean dig by Piatt as SNU held an 18-17 lead, but was called down and tied the set at 18. The Mustangs ran away from there to take a 1-0 lead.
 
The Storm answered though in the second as they hit .321 (12-3-28) and had kills from six different players, including Piatt who also had 10 assists. The third set was similar as SNU held MSU to just a .130 clip while the Storm hit .302 (16-2-43). Jacobs had seven kills in that set and hit .778 while Piatt dished out 13 assists.
 
Midwestern State didn't go away quietly and used an 11-0 run to start the fourth set and hung on late to tie the match at 2-2 and force a fifth set. In the final set, SNU broke a 4-4 tie with a Piatt kill that sparked an 8-2 run to put SNU up 12-6. MSU fired back again with a 7-2 run to cut it to 14-13, but Southern Nazarene went back to the hot hand in Jacobs for the final kill.
 
"The fourth set was the first time we've been flustered for that period of time this year," said Ingram. "We still battled back and scored 17 after being down 11-0. We got past it and got back into the rhythm of what we wanted to do. I was confident going into the fifth set and just knew you can't allow a team to get on a run like that."
 
The Crimson Storm now get set to host former Sooner Athletic Conference, and soon to be GAC rival, Oklahoma Baptist, Friday at 6 p.m. OBU is ranked No. 18 in their final year of the NAIA.