BETHANY—The newly renovated Sawyer Center still felt like home for the Southern Nazarene volleyball team as the Crimson Storm picked up a four set win (25-18, 22-25, 25-17, 25-20) over Midwestern State University in the 2021 home opener.
It was a full team effort from Southern Nazarene (3-1, 0-0 GAC) as 13 different players saw action, including 10 different players scoring in the match. Their strong defense would limit Midwestern State (0-5) to just a .072 hitting clip.
The first set saw quite a bit of back-and-forth action. Momentum would be hard to come by as neither team posted a run greater than 4 points. A three point run midway through the set, would allow the Storm to gain a 13-11, though. Despite being unable to put together a big run, SNU would never relinquish the advantage as the Storm slowly expanded their lead on the way to taking set one, 25-18. The Storm hit an impressive .379 on the way to the set win.
It was a slow start in the second set for SNU. Again struggling to find momentum, SNU found themselves down 11-16. Jacy Braziel would proceed to take over, though, collecting kills on 3 of 4 points as part of a 6-0 SNU run. Midwestern State quickly regained the lead and ultimately created enough separation to hold on for a 25-22 set two win.
From there, the Crimson Storm defense began to truly shine. While the Mustangs were already hitting well below .200 in the match, they would be limited to a negative hitting percentage over the final two sets. SNU tallied 4 of their 11 total blocks in that final set.
Southern Nazarene notched a pair of 5-0 runs in each of the final two sets as they built separation from Midwestern State. The Mustangs showed some fight as they worked to make a push at a fifth set, but a Grace Miracle kill kickstarted a 4-1 run, capped off with a Bailey Grimes kill, to finish off the match.
Grimes, alongside Whitney Bowie, led the charge for the Storm. They each tallied 11 kills and were extremely productive with their chances, hitting .375 and .450, respectively. The duo was also a force at the net, piling up 11 combined blocks. Grimes would match a career-high of 6 blocks in the contest.
Following an opening game loss to No. 20 UT-Tyler, Southern Nazarene has now won three straight matches. The win streak will be tested, though, as the Storm prepare for a long road trip that will not see them return to the Sawyer Center until Sept. 21. First up in the long road trip for SNU will be in the the Rosella Meier Fall Classic held in Kearney, Neb. The Crimson Storm will see a pair of matches on Friday, Sept. 10, followed by a pair of matches on Saturday, Sept. 11. First serve on Friday is set for 2:00 p.m. against Minot State.
