BETHANY, Okla. — In their last home game of the regular season, Southern Nazarene Volleyball dropped their match to East Central, a team they had swept on the road earlier this season.
The Storm (15-14,5-10 GAC) were in good spirits heading into Monday evening's match, celebrating their three seniors on Senior Day: Sunny Batschelett, Madeline Lynch, and Breckynn Myers. Southern Nazarene unfortunately did not get the results they wanted to against the Tigers (13-14,8-7 GAC), who forced 28 errors on the Storm, a large contribution to ECU's victory.
The Tigers had an answer for every Storm attack in the early going, but consecutive errors by the Storm and two ECU service aces allowed the Tigers to jump to a quick 13-8 lead. SNU cut that lead back down to four by a Sunny Batschelett block, but three consecutive kills by East Central put them back ahead by seven points.
Southern Nazarene chipped away at the deficit by forcing a few errors on ECU and delivering a couple of kills, soon trailing by just four points. Back-to-back kills by Whitney Bowie brought the Storm within two, but three consecutive Tiger points allowed them to reach set point first. Batschelett sent the ball to the floor to make it a four-point game, but East Central powered down a kill to answer and took the first set, 25-20.
The squads went back-and-forth at the beginning of set 2, but three quick kills by Whitney Bowie allowed SNU to maintain a slim two-point lead. Back-to-back ECU service aces and a kill put the Tigers back on top 11-9 and the teams traded points from there. The Storm stayed close, but a few offensive highlights by ECU allowed them to extend their lead to four at 20-16.
The Storm caught fire and exploded for a 4-0 run to tie the set at 21-21. A kill by Batschelett gave SNU the lead and the Tigers were able to tie it two more times and again at match point. SNU took time and came out with a monstrous kill by Tessa Henry who gave SNU the one-point edge. The Tigers answered, but Bowie and Ashley Finch teamed up for the block to earn SNU back the lead at 26-25. Rayanna Mauldin sent down the winning kill (27-25) after an intense volley, and tied the set at 1-1.
Now with the match knotted up, both teams looked for an advantage. Two Storm errors and a service ace by the Tigers put them at a 9-5 lead, prompting SNU to take a timeout. The Tigers maintained that lead until the midway point, but a 3-0 run by the Storm allowed them to cut the gap to just a single point.
The Tigers didn't make it easy for the Storm in the later part of the set, answering every Storm attack with one of their own. The scoring margin was just a single point for quite some time until the Storm defense stumped ECU at the net, forcing an error on the Tigers to tie the match at 22-all. A kill by ECU and an attack error by the Storm allowed the Tigers to see set point again, and they finished the Storm off with kill to snag set 3, 25-22.
The battle continued on into set 4 and the scoring margin stayed close early on, with ECU controlling the lead. The largest lead was just three points, until the Tigers made it four by forcing a few errors on the Crimson Storm. Out of an SNU timeout, the Tigers extended their lead to 22-15 with a 3-0 run, putting even more pressure on the Storm to turn the match around.
SNU finally stopped the bleeding with a kill by Bowie and an ace by Mauldin, cutting the Tigers' lead down to five. The Storm comeback did not stop there, sneaking in a 4-0 run to cut the deficit down to 23-21. East Central felt the Storm getting closer, and decided to put the match away by dialing in on defense, forcing the Storm to commit two attack errors in row.
Those two errors sealed SNU's fate and East Central grabbed the 25-21 set 3 victory, allowing them to walk away with the 3-1 match win.
Up Next
Southern Nazarene will suit up in their last regular season game of the season in Shawnee as they visit the Bison of Oklahoma Baptist for a Thursday, November 9th matchup at 7 p.m.
