BETHANY, Okla. – After facing a tough four-set loss to Southeastern Oklahoma State Tuesday night, Southern Nazarene achieved quite the bounce-back win on Thursday, sweeping Northwestern Oklahoma State inside the Sawyer Center to earn their second conference victory of the 2023 season.
 
It was a highly anticipated matchup as the Rangers (5-8, 2-1 GAC) already picked up wins over Southeastern OSU and Oklahoma Baptist to start the season 2-0 in conference. The Storm (10-4, 2-1 GAC) lived up to the hype and dominated NWOSU in three straight sets, powered by a .244 hitting percentage and using 22 Ranger errors to their advantage. SNU's defense also shined as they held NWOSU under .1 hitting, largely contributed by Kayley Brubaker, Madeline Lynch, and Rayanna Mauldin who all achieved double figures in digs. SNU maintained the trend of sweeps between the two squads as the past four matchups have all been three-set wins (SNU-2, NWOSU-2).
 
 
SNU came out firing early in set 1, breaking out to a 10-6 lead with the help of Tessa Henry who had already powered down four kills for the Storm. The Rangers answered with a 4-0 run to tie the set at 11-all and the teams went back and forth from there. SNU put up a 4-0 run of their own to take a three-point lead, but NWOSU did not back down, delivering a round of kills to knot the set back up at 19-19 and again at 23-23. An SNU timeout allowed the Storm to regain composure and Brubaker's kill along with a Ranger attack error sealed the 25-23 set win for the Storm.
 
SNU carried over the winning mindset into set 2, rolling with a three-point lead early in the set. SNU's control on both the offensive and defensive end allowed them to bump up to a five-point lead at 13-8, but the Rangers amped up their offense, closing the gap to just a single point midway through the set. SNU felt the pressure and fired up their attack, delivering kill after kill until NWOSU was too far behind. At match point, a Ranger service error earned SNU the set 2 win, 25-19, and they improved to 2-0 in the match.
 
Northwestern made it difficult for the Storm to secure the sweep as they began set 3 with a 5-1 lead. The Storm quickly made some adjustments and tied the set at five-all. The teams continued to trade points until consecutive kills from Brubaker and Ashley Finch forced a NWOSU timeout as the Storm soared to an 11-7 advantage. The Rangers were able to sneak in a few kills midway through the set, but SNU's attack and defensive performance outshined NWOSU and they quickly jumped to an 11-point lead. The Storm defense caused trouble for the Rangers in the final few possessions as NWOSU committed error after error. The lead was too great for the Rangers to overcome and SNU snatched the 24-15 set 3 victory, earning their second GAC victory and fifth sweep of the year.
 
Mauldin led the attack with 11 kills while Tessa Henry added in seven. Whitney Bowie and Finch each recorded six kills.
 
Finch was the leader of the denial as she recorded five total blocks that evening.
 
Lynch and Brubaker led the defensive front, each with 17 digs.
 
Up Next:
 
SNU will be back at home on Tuesday, September 26^th as they host rival Oklahoma Baptist at 7 p.m. inside the Sawyer Center. The Bison lost to NWOSU in their first conference match of the season in four sets but recently landed a sweep over East Central to start 1-1 in GAC play.