ADA, Okla. – Southern Nazarene's No. 5 seeded volleyball team looked to make some noise in the first round of the Great American Conference Tournament on Tuesday, but fell short 3-1 (11-25, 17-25, 25-18, 23-25) to No. 4 seed East Central.
Despite tallying 12 blocks in the match, the Crimson Storm couldn't find their rhythm on the offensive side of the net. They hit just .116 while the Tigers recorded a sizzling .270 clip on their home floor. Both teams tallied seven service aces and 22 attack errors. For the match, SNU finished with just 39 digs compared to 59 for the Tigers which made the biggest difference in the match.
Sunny Batschelett was the only Storm attacker to finish with double-digit kills as she tallied 10 to go along with five blocks.
Shantalle Demirjian and
Whitney Bowie each racked up seven kills while
Meagan Ellis finished with five. Setter
Breckynn Myers recorded a double-double with 21 assists and 11 digs while
Isabella Mitchell finished with a team-high three aces.
Southern Nazarene got off to a nightmare start as they tallied just five total kills in the opening set. East Central hit .324 in the frame and slipped in three aces as they took the first set 25-11. The Crimson Storm's offense continued to sputter in the second stanza as they recorded more errors than kills. SNU was able to hang around in the set however as they secured a couple of aces and four blocks. After a late run, the Tigers took the set 25-17 to take the 2-0 set lead on their home floor.
The Crimson Storm battled back in the third set with a .345 hitting clip to go along with four aces. They tallied just one error in the set as they took the frame 25-18 to cut the deficit to 2-1. The fourth set turned out to be the most competitive as SNU pulled out everything they had to keep their season alive. They hit .158 in the fourth set while ECU hit .237. Late in the set, the Storm got a couple of points to cut their hole to 24-23, but the Tigers got a kill after that to seal the match.
Southern Nazarene finishes the Spring season with a 3-9 record. The Crimson Storm lose no seniors in the offseason and will gear up for a strong season in the Fall.
