HOT SPRINGS, Ark. — One thing has been guaranteed on the opening night of the Great American Conference Championships for Southern Nazarene and that's a first round win. For the fourth straight year, SNU advanced to the semifinals with a win in the quarterfinals as it downed Northwestern Oklahoma State, 3-1 (25-20, 22-25, 26-24, 25-23).
 
The Crimson Storm (15-17) entered the tournament as the No. 5 seed, it's lowest in the four straight years it has made the tournament. SNU also downed a Rangers (20-11) team that swept the season series from the Storm.
 
Makenna Hunter had 12 kills and four blocks on the night while hitting .455. Kayla Thomas had a team-high 13 kills and five digs while McKayla Benner had 11 kills and three blocks. Bailee Turang also had 10 kills and 18 digs for her 15^th double-double of the season. She also had a pair of aces. Kylie Smith dished out 48 assists to go with eight digs, five kills and a block. Meagan Ellis added nine block and 11 digs while Elyse Berlin had 19 digs.
 
The Storm hit .245 (61-23-155) and out dug Northwestern 70-54. The Rangers had eight blocks while SNU had six.
 
Neither team led by more than three in the first set until SNU scored four straight late in the set to lead 21-17. The Rangers cut it to 22-20 to force an SNU timeout, but the Storm scored the next three points to take the first set 1-0.
 
Northwestern opened the second set with a 7-2 run to force an SNU timeout, but the Rangers didn't let up. NWOSU pushed it to 18-9 before Makenna Hunter started a 10-2 run to get within one at 20-19 on McKayla Benner kill. That was as close as the Storm came though as the Rangers closed the set with a 5-3 run to tie the match at 1-1.
 
SNU broke a 10-10 tie, the fourth tie of the set, with a 4-0 run that was capped by a Turang ace and forced a Northwestern timeout. SNU extended the run to 15-10, but the Rangers used a 7-2 run to tie it at 17. SNU used a 4-0 run capped by a Benner kill to lead 22-18. Northwestern answered with a 5-1 run to tie it at 23. SNU had set point on a Kayla Thomas kill, but the Rangers tied it again at 24. SNU got a kill from Meagan Ellis before Makenna Hunter put it away with a kill to take the set and a 2-1 lead in the match.
 
In the fourth set, SNU led early at 5-2, but Northwestern tied it at five and that was the first of 13 straight ties as it went all the way to 17-17. SNU broke the tie with two points to lead 19-17, but the Rangers tied it again at 21. Turang made it 22-21 before an error gave the Storm a 23-21 advantage. SNU later got match point at 24-22 on a Benner kill and Thomas put it away with a kill.