BETHANY – For the first time in the last five matches, Southern Nazarene hit below .200 as they fell 3-1 to Northwestern Oklahoma State inside the Sawyer Center on Tuesday Night.
 
The .196 hitting clip was the lowest for the Crimson Storm (19-9, 8-5 GAC) since their October 25^th loss at home to Arkansas Tech as SNU committed 29 errors against the Rangers (20-9, 10-3 GAC). It was still a fantastic match as both sides had some sensational performances on both sides of the net.
 
One of those performances came from Kayla Thomas who set a new season-high with 19 kills. She registered the highest hitting percentage of the match at .385 as the junior also added three block assists in the contest. SNU's core of Bailee Turang and Kylie Smith were equally incredible as Turang racked up a game-high 24 kills on a .269 hitting clip to go along with a career-high 26 digs.
 
Smith tallied 60 assists in the loss, which is the third time this season she's reached the 60-assist mark. She enters Thursday night averaging 53.25 assists in her last four matches. To along with her 60 helpers, she added 11 digs, two service aces and one block assist.
 
Meagan Ellis added 13 kills and 12 digs as well as an ace as Grace Miracle chipped in six kills and one block assist. Bailey Grimes contributed five kills and two blocks for the Storm as well.
 
In a match that saw 18 ties and 10 lead changes, the fans got their money's worth inside Sawyer for this showcase. After a back and forth first set, NWOSU jumped out to a 10-5 lead before Thomas later got a kill to cut the Ranger lead to 19-18. A service ace later in the set by Turang tied the match at 24-24, before Northwestern closed the frame on a 3-1 run to take the early 1-0 lead.
 
Southern Nazarene came back in the second stanza and hit .350 as a team and limited their errors to four. The Storm defense held the Rangers to a .222 percentage as they leapt out to an 8-3 lead. NWOSU responded with a 12-4 run of their own to take a 15-12 advantage before SNU ripped off six straight points to take the lead back. The Rangers cut the Storm lead to 23-21, but a couple of kills from Grimes and Miracle won the frame for SNU and tied the match 1-1.
 
The third set was rough for the Crimson Storm offensive attack as Northwestern held them to a .080 hitting clip. SNU had nine errors and the Rangers took advantage and swung .233 for the frame. NWOSU catapulted out to an 18-10 advantage and the deficit was too much for SNU to overcome as the Rangers took a 2-1 lead.
 
Northwesternf forced nine more errors out of the Storm in the fourth set as SNU hit .182, but continued to hang around and make things interesting. After the lead changed hands three times in the fourth set, the Rangers picked up a point to take a 20-17 lead. The Storm came back later in the frame and tied it 22-22 and it looked like we might be headed to a fifth set. The Rangers weren't having it however as they closed on a 3-1 spurt to take the match and sweep the season series with SNU.
 
Southern Nazarene will be back in action inside the Sawyer Center on Thursday night as they host Oklahoma Baptist at 7:00 p.m. on Senior Night. Bailee Turang and Kylie Smith will be the two seniors honored before the game as they lace up the shoes one final time on their home floor.