DURANT, Okla. —Southern Nazarene will have to wait until Tuesday to see if it can clinch a spot in the Great American Conference Championships after it fell 3-1 (25-20, 25-21, 22-5, 25-21) Thursday at Southeastern Oklahoma State.
 
The loss for the Crimson Storm (12-16, 7-7 GAC) came on the heels of a Henderson State win over Harding which kept hope alive for the Reddies. SNU controls its own destiny though if it can down Southwestern Oklahoma State Tuesday on senior night.
 
Meagan Ellis finished the night with 13 kills and a career-high 23 digs to go with three blocks. Bailee Turang added 14 kills and 17 digs along with a block. Kylie Smith had 40 assists, 10 digs and five kills to go with a pair of aces. Makenna Hunter also had eight kills and four blocks. Elyse Berlin also had 11 digs.
 
The two teams nearly mirrored each other in hitting percentage and digs as SNU hit .127 with 68 digs while Southeastern (12-11, 7-7 GAC) hit .141 and had 68 digs. The Savage Storm though had seven aces and 12 blocks compared to the Crimson Storm's three aces, and seven blocks
 
In the first set there were nine straight ties before Southeastern broke the 9-9 tie with three straight to lead 12-9. The Savage Storm pushed their lead to 17-13 before SNU got four straight kills to knot it at 17. Southeastern though scored four straight to lead 21-17 and the Crimson Storm came no closer than two as SOSU took a 1-0 lead in the match.
 
In the second set, there were 10 ties before Southeastern broke a 19-19 tie with three straight to lead 22-19. Southern Nazarene got within one at 22-21, but the Savage Storm took a 2-0 lead in the match by scoring three straight to end the set.
 
SNU trailed 4-2 early in the third set before Turang sparked a 7-2 run to lead 9-6. Southeastern answered with a 7-1 run to take a 13-10 lead. SOSU was up 18-15, and looked to be headed for a sweep, but SNU closed the set with a 10-4 run, including the final three points, to keep hope alive and force a fourth set.
 
The Crimson Storm had a 15-11 lead in the fourth, but Southeastern kept chipping away and used a 14-6 run to close out the match.