BETHANY, Okla.—Southern Nazarene notched their first home sweep of the season, and third straight win overall, on Friday evening as they easily dispatched of Henderson State in three sets (25-16, 25-22, 25-16).
It has been almost three full years since Southern Nazarene (9-9, 4-3 GAC) earned a home sweep. The last time they earned a straight-set win at home was October 3, 2019 against East Central.
The Crimson Storm were dominant in all facets of the match. They consistently limited the Henderson State (7-12, 1-6 GAC) attack and kept them off balance all three sets. Offensively, Southern Nazarene hit .298, while limiting Henderson State to just a .130 attack percentage.
It was clear from the opening serve that Southern Nazarene was the superior team on Friday. They opened the match on an 8-0 run and despite allowing the Reddies to trim the lead to just 12-11, SNU never relinquished their advantage. SNU closed the first game by scoring 10 of the final 13 points. Sunny Batschelett picked up right where she left off on Thursday as she notched 7 of her game-high 14 kills in that first set.
The second game was the most competitive of the three, but Southern Nazarene used a 6-0 run following a 7-7 tie to build a lead. Henderson fought back, though, and eventually grabbed an 18-17 lead. Facing adversity for the first time in the match, SNU responded well and took care of business the rest of the way. They scored the final three points of the set and finished it off with a Tessa Henry kill. She was just one kill shy of her career-high as she totaled 13 in the match.
SNU flexed their muscles in the third set as they were determined to grab that elusive home sweep. Tied at 5, SNU put together a 4-0 run and held onto the lead the remainder of the set. Fittingly, Sunny Batschelett brought the match to a close with her 14th kill.
Whitney Bowie finished with 8 kills to go along with her 4 blocks. Bailey Grimes was not far behind, tallying 7 kills and 3 total blocks.
Madeline Lynch led the way defensively with 16 digs. She has recorded at least 15 digs in seven consecutive matches.
Kaley Brubaker collected her second consecutive double-double, tallying 41 assists and 10 digs.
After a pair of wins over Arkansas schools this week, SNU will look to do the same on the road as they make the trip to Arkansas-Monticello on Thursday before meeting Southern Arkansas on Friday. The Crimson Storm are a perfect 10-0 all-time against Arkansas-Monticello. First serve in Monticello is set for 4:00 p.m. on Thursday.
