ADA, Okla.—Southern Nazarene came into Thursday looking to snap a three-game losing skid to East Central but it was not meant to be as the Tigers walked away with a win in an incredibly tough five-set match (25-18, 18-25, 25-19, 22-25, 15-12) in the Great American Conference opener.
The teams went back-and-forth with neither side gaining much of an advantage at any point in the match. They traded sets with East Central (3-8, 1-0 GAC) taking sets one, three, and five, while the Crimson Storm (4-4, 0-1 GAC) grabbed the second and fourth sets.
It was clear from set one that this would be a back-and-forth contest. Neither team put together a streak early, but the Tigers finally gained some separation after a 7-1 run pushed their lead to 19-14. The Storm cut the deficit to three but never got any closer as the Tigers took set one 25-18.
Set two would again be tight early on, but another 7-1 run, this time in favor of the Storm, would push SNU to set point. They finished off the set on a Shantalle Demirjian kill, one of a career-high 16 kills for the junior.
Again we saw a tight set number three, but a 5-0 Tiger run pushed their advantage to 15-8. The Storm got within three points at 22-19, but back-to-back kills and a service ace would put East Central one set win away from taking the match.
The Storm showed their grit in a fierce set four that was about as tight as a set can be. Neither squad held an advantage of more than three points in the set and the teams eventually found themselves deadlocked at 22 a side. Kills from Meagan Ellis and Sunny Batschelett, followed by an ECU set error, would allow SNU to survive and force a deciding fifth set.
The grinding fourth set would seem to wear the Storm down, though, as despite keeping it close early in the fifth set, a 4-0 East Central run would put them up for good. Southern Nazarene was unable to keep serve in that fifth set, only scoring back-to-back points once over that final frame, which would ultimately lead to a 15-11 win for the Tigers.
It was errors that did SNU in as they collected 58 kills to ECU's 56, but totalled 33 attack errors while ECU only had 21.
Shantalle Demirian was not the only to have a big offensive night. Sunny Batschelett finished the night with 14 kills of her own, while Whitney Bowie was the other Storm member in double-digits with 10 kills.
Breckynn Myers notched a double-double, dishing out 28 assists and racking up 13 digs.
The Crimson Storm will look to get things back on track next time out as the team returns to Bethany for just their second home contest of the season on Sept. 21. Southern Nazarene hosts Northwestern Oklahoma State University, who has had a rough start to the season at just 1-9. SNU holds a 10-9 advantage over the Rangers all-time, but have fallen in the last four matches with NWOSU. First serve is set for 7:00 p.m. inside the Sawyer Center on Tuesday night.
