OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. – Southern Nazarene's volleyball team took a break from Great American Conference play as they battled cross-town rival Oklahoma Christian inside the Eagles' Nest. In a five-set slugfest (22-25, 25-20, 23-25, 25-23, 7-15), SNU just fell short to OC on Saturday afternoon.
The Crimson Storm registered more kills than the Eagles, but the 32 attack errors for head coach
Kevin Ingram and company proved costly in the long run. The OC defense was sharp all game long as they finished with 10 blocks, which doubled SNU's in the match. As a team, the Storm hit .173 in the match while the Eagles hit .183.
It was a career night for senior
Meagan Ellis as she exploded for a career-high 23 kills to go along with 17 digs. She was one of four Storm hitters who finished with double-digit kills as
Sunny Batschelett went for 10 kills, and a team-high five blocks on a .227 hitting percentage.
Jacy Braziel and
Whitney Bowie also finished the match with 10 kills as the duo each hit over .200 as well.
Sophomore setter
Breckynn Myers had a fantastic game as she finished with a career-high 48 assists on the night. She also provided some excellent defense with 17 digs to go with four kills.
Shantalle Demirjian chipped in with eight kills and three digs, while libero
Logan Matthews finished with a team-high 22 digs on the night.
Both teams were red hot coming out in the opening set as SNU tallied 15 kills while OC recorded 17. After a back-and-forth affair, the Eagles took the early 1-0 lead with a narrow 25-22 set victory. The Crimson Storm came right back in the second stanza and picked up the defensive intensity. They defended the net well, picking up three blocks and only allowing 12 kills in the frame as they tied the match 1-1 after taking the set 25-20.
Oklahoma Christian got their momentum back in the third set as they took the 2-1 lead after another tightly contested affair. Despite the three service aces in the frame, Southern Nazarene fell 25-23 and needed to get something going in the fourth. The defense from the second set mirrored the fourth for SNU as they held the Eagles to just nine total kills in the set. OC made it interesting, but the Storm got the points when they needed them and forced the coveted fifth set.
After taking a 3-1 lead early in the final set of the night, the Eagles went on a 6-0 run to take a 7-3 lead. After that, it made it difficult for the Storm to get back into it as OC took the set 15-7 to send SNU back to Bethany with their fifth loss of the season.
Southern Nazarene will be back at home next week as they host East Central for "Pink Out Night" on Wednesday. First serve with the Tigers is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. inside the Sawyer Center.
