ARKADELPHIA, Ark. — Southern Nazarene faced a tough road loss in Arkadelphia Friday evening, dropping three sets to the Ouachita Baptist Tigers.

Both the Storm (14-9, 4-6 GAC) and the Tigers (13-13, 5-6 GAC) were fairly even across the stat sheet, but 11 service aces was a key mark in Ouachita's victory. This was just the third lost in history that the Storm have dropped to Ouachita Baptist since the two teams first met in 2012.

Both squads went back and forth in the early part of the opening set until Ouachita Baptist went on a small scoring spree to take an 11-7 lead, prompting SNU to take a timeout. 

Southern Nazarene stayed within a few points of Ouachita Baptist midway through the set, but the Tigers delivered a round of kills that put them ahead by six and the Storm took time again to organize a comeback. The Storm were unable to close the gap the remainder of the set, due to errors and a fierce Tiger offense. The Tigers went on to take set 1, 25-17. 

SNU recorded the first point of the second set and that was the last time they led in the set. The Storm stayed close early, but a 4-0 run widened OBU's lead and they soon maintained an 8-3 advantage. The Storm managed to cut the deficit back down to three, but Ouachita Baptist put together a fierce gameplan that caused numerous SNU errors, turning those into Tiger points. 

SNU fired a round of kills off the hands of Whitney Bowie, Tessa Henry, and Sunny Batschelett and the Storm soon brought the game within three points at 19-16. OBU felt the pressure and held on to their lead until the end of the set, backed by three kills and three service aces. The Tigers took set 2, 25-16 and improved to 2-0 in the match. 

The Storm were on a mission to avoid a Tigers' sweep, answering every OBU point early in the third set. Ouachita Baptist made the comeback difficult for SNU as they exploded for an 8-1 run and soon controlled an 11-4 lead. The Storm snuck in a few points to help lessen the blow, coming with four points late. That was not enough to combat the Tigers' mid-set performance and OBU went on to win set 3, 25-20. 

Batschelett recorded 10 kills and four blocks to lead the Storm. 

Up Next

Southern Nazarene will have a quick turnaround as they will visit Henderson State tomorrow at 2 p.m. The Storm swept the Reddies last season in Bethany and maintain a 7-5 record against HSU since they first met in 2012.