BETHANY - The Southern Nazarene volleyball team dominated at the net on Friday afternoon, holding Southern Arkansas to an .036 hitting percentage and getting 11 team blocks as they cruised past the Muleriders in three, 25-21, 25-17, 25-22 at The Sawyer Center, snapping a three-game skid.
SNU finished with 44 total kills to only 18 errors on 114 total attacks for a .228 hitting percentage while Southern Arkansas only had 26 kills to 22 errors on 110 total attacks for their .036 hitting percentage.
It was a back-and-forth battle between the two GAC squads in the early going of the first set before the Muleriders were able to jump out to an 11-8 lead, forcing a Crimson Storm timeout. Southern Nazarene came out firing from all cylinders, rallying for six straight points to surge ahead 14-11. SAU's response was three straight of their own to even the match back up at 14 a piece.
SNU would score five of the next six points to move ahead 19-15, but after exchanging a point, Southern Arkansas rattled off four straight to even the set again at 20. Coming out of a timeout, the Crimson Storm finish strong, moving ahead 23-20 on SAU errors and using back-to-back kills from sophomore
Kayla Thomas to win the set 25-21.
In the second set, the Muleriders raced out to a 7-3 lead, but SNU found their groove and fought back to even the set at nine. SAU got the next point to lead 10-9, but Southern Nazarene scored the next six points to move ahead 15-10. The Crimson Storm maintained their lead and didn't give Southern Arkansas any hope of a comeback, closing the set at 25-17 and taking a 2-0 lead.
The Muleriders were not going down quietly in the third set, using a six point rally to lead 8-4 and forcing a SNU timeout. Southern Nazarene remained composed and evened the match at 12, but SAU responded with another four point rally, forcing the Crimson Storm's final timeout of the set with the 16-12 lead.
The Crimson Storm scored the next five points thanks to a pair of kills from sophomore
Bailee Turang and suddenly we had a set at 17-16. The two teams exchanged points before SNU got some breathing room at 21-19. The Muleriders closed the gap to 22-21, but SNU closed the match with three of the last four point, including a Thomas kill to put away the set and the match, 25-22.
Turang led the way with 13 kills while Thomas had a huge game, going for 10 kills on .600 hitting. Senior
Makenna Hunter added nine kills with a .412 hitting percentage while junior
Kylie Smith finished with an impressive 40 assists in only three sets. Thomas also had the lone service ace of the match.
Defensively, freshman
Logan Matthews tallied 18 digs while Turang had 11, but movement at the net was the story for SNU, finishing with 11 team blocks. Thomas led the pack with five total while Hunter and Smith each had four. Turang and freshman
Rachel Tichenor each had two in the match.
SNU goes to 12-12 overall and 4-4 in the GAC as they improve to 5-2 from the friendly confides of The Sawyer Center. It'll be a quick turnaround for the Crimson Storm as they are back in action tomorrow afternoon, welcoming in the Arkansas-Monticello Cotton Blossoms. First serve is set for 2:00 PM.
