EDMOND, Okla.—Day two of the OC/UCO Tournament did not go the way of Southern Nazarene as they dropped both matches, falling in five sets (25-19, 21-25, 16-25, 26-24, 15-11) to Oklahoma Christian before a three set loss (25-16, 25-20, 25-23) to St. Mary's in game two.
Match 1:
SNU's high-powered offense was held at bay all day and it began in game one as SNU hit just .122 against Oklahoma Christian. The Eagles were just slightly better, but their .144 hitting percentage was enough to propel them to the five set win.
Oklahoma Christian controlled much of set one, building a ten point lead and eventually settling for a 25-19 win. SNU bounced back, though, fending off the Eagles for a 25-21 set two win that tied the match.
SNU controlled the majority of set three. They never allowed Oklahoma Christian to win more than two points in a row and rode their momentum to an easy 25-16 win that pushed them to one set victory from a match win.
That one set eluded SNU, although they came extremely close in set four. Needing just two points at 23-23, Oklahoma Christian was able to keep the Storm out of the win column by taking three of the next four points and stealing set four 26-24.
OC was able to take their confidence from set four into set five and maintained control throughout the set. SNU took a 1-0 lead, but that was the only lead they had as Oklahoma Christian scored the next three points and eventually took the match securing game 15-11 over the Storm.
Sunny Batschelett put together a season-high 16 kills and a season-high 6 digs. She also tied a season-high with 5 blocks.
Shantalle Deirjian was the other Storm member in double-digit kills, racking up 11 in the match.
Kaley Brubaker collected her second consecutive double-double, matching a career-high 41 assists in the match, as well as digging out 16 balls.
Tatum Smith also totaled a career-high with 25 digs to go along with her 3 aces in the match.
Match 2:
St. Mary's controlled Southern Nazarene in match two of the day as they knocked the Storm out in three sets. SNU struggled again offensively, hitting just .109 against a solid defensive group in St. Mary's.
St. Mary's scored the first four points of set one and never looked back. SNU got within two points at 15-13, but never got over the hump as the Rattlers took set one 25-16.
SNU kept it tight throughout the second set, but were unable to come away with the win. Despite leading 14-13, SNU could not hold on as St. Mary's rattled off 7 of the next 9 points and took control of the set at 20-16. They carried that momentum to a 25-20 set two win that gave them a big advantage in the match.
Leading 2-0 in the match and holding a great deal of confidence, the Rattlers quickly gained control of set three and took the match. They scored the first five points of the set and built a 24-17 lead. SNU put forth an incredible effort fending off match point, scoring six consecutive points, but just as SNU got within one point, St. Mary's finished off the match with a kill to take set three 25-23.
Whitney Bowie led the team with 10 kills.
Sunny Batschelett and Tessa Henry added 6 in the match.
Breckynn Myers took the work at the center of the offense, tallying 16 assists for the match, while Victoria Mendez added 10.
With tournament play behind them, Southern Nazarene turns to conference play next time out as they host Southeastern Oklahoma State for their home opener. The two teams split last season's matchups as the home team won both games in five sets. First serve is set for 7:00 p.m. inside the Sawyer Center.
