KEARNEY, Neb.—After a pair of tough matches on Friday afternoon, Southern Nazarene bounced back in a big way with a four set win (25-21, 23-25, 25-17, 25-22) over Chadron State College to close out their time at the Rosella Meier Fall Classic.
It was clutch play from the Storm (4-2, 0-0 GAC) that helped them take the win as three of the four sets were played within four points. The third set would be the outlier as SNU managed to cruise to an 8 point win over Chadron State (2-4) in that third frame.
Southern Nazarene would come out hitting the ball strong. They attacked at an efficient .333 hitting clip in set one. The third set would be even better for the Storm as their hitting percentage climbed to .342 after a 15 kill, 2 error frame.
Closing out the Eagles would not come easy, though. Needing just one more win, SNU found themselves in a dog fight in the fourth set. Ultimately, the Storm fended off a pesky Chadron State squad for a 25-22 win to secure the match.
Breckynn Myers set the offense up for success all night, dishing out 30 assists to go along with her 8 digs. Fellow setter Kaley Brubaker did her part as well, tallying 18 assists and 9 digs of her own.
The setters spread the ball around all afternoon as 7 different players notched at least 4 kills. Whitney Bowie led the way with 12 kills. She was followed by Bailey Grimes and Grace Miracle, who each collected 9 kills. Meagan Ellis and Sunny Batschelett finished with 8 kills a piece, while Shantalle Demirjian and Tessa Henry came away with 7 and 4 kills, respectively.
With the conclusion of the Rosella Meier Fall Classic, SNU now turns their attention to Great American Conference play. The Storm begin GAC play with a trip to Ada, Okla. to take on East Central. Southern Nazarene is 16-4 all-time against the Tigers, but have dropped the last three matches. The Storm will look to break that trend on Thursday, Sept. 16. First serve is set for 7:00 p.m. in Ada.
