DURANT, Okla. – 12 kills from
Sunny Batschelett and 10 more from
Meagan Ellis led the charge on Saturday night for the Southern Nazarene volleyball team in a 3-1 (25-16, 13-25, 25-20, 25-23) victory over Emporia State in the final match of the 2021 Southeastern Classic.
The Crimson Storm (2-1, 0-0 GAC) put together their best offensive performance of the young season to date, as they posted an impressive .204 hitting percentage to go with 52 assists in the contest. SNU's defense held the Hornets (0-3) to a .146 hitting clip while forcing 25 total errors in the match out of ESU as well. Both teams tallied seven blocks while the Storm racked up 66 digs and four service aces.
Sophomore
Breckynn Myers posted her first double-double of the 2021 season as she amassed 20 assists to go along with 13 digs on the defensive end. Batschelett and Ellis were the only Storm hitters to reach double-digit kills while Ellis neared a double-double finishing with nine digs in the contest.
Whitney Bowie and
Bailey Grimes each tallied seven kills while
Jacy Braziel and
Tessa Henry chipped in with five.
Following up her career-high 31 digs last night was
Madeline Lynch who was in her bag once again, finishing with a game-high 18 digs to go along with an ace as well.
Southern Nazarene hit over .200 on the offensive side in three of the four sets as they used a combination of aces and blocks to push them over the edge against Emporia State. In the opening set, SNU's defense held the Hornets to a -.029 hitting percentage as they forced 10 errors out of ESU. In commanding fashion, the Storm took the early 1-0 lead after taking the frame 25-16.
The Hornets responded in a big way in the second stanza as they hit a whopping .412 with 12 kills and just one error in the set. There wasn't much SNU could do as ESU tied the match 1-1 after taking the set 25-13. Head coach
Kevin Ingram got his team's defense back on track in the third game as they held Emporia to a .029 clip while forcing nine Hornet errors as well. The Storm hit .206 and used a couple of aces to take the set 25-20 to take the pivotal 2-1 lead.
SNU didn't take their foot off the gas in the fourth set as they hit a team-best .282 with 12 kills and holding Emporia to a .171 clip. A kill from Ellis gave SNU the 22-20 lead before Batschelett buried another to make it match point at 24-21. The Hornets tried to make it interesting by pushing it to 24-23, but Batschelett slammed the door with a kill to close out the match, giving SNU its second straight victory.
Southern Nazarene returns home next week for their home opener on Tuesday evening as they welcome in Midwestern State to the Sawyer Center. First serve with the Mustangs is set for 6:00 p.m.
