WEATHERFORD, Okla. — Southern Nazarene's battle through a nail-biter does not go their way Thursday night as they fell in four to host Southwestern Oklahoma State.
 
 
Looking to rattle off the sting of Tuesday evening's loss to Oklahoma Baptist, The Storm (10-6, 2-3 GAC) could not get the job done in their road contest with the Bulldogs (8-4, 3-1 GAC), dropping the match in four sets for their third conference loss this season.
 
Set 1 had the fans on their feet as the teams went back and forth for the ultimate extended-set face-off. The squads attacked one another from opening serve and traded points early. A few errors by the Storm allowed the Bulldogs to run with a three-point lead midway through the set, but the Bulldogs powered down a couple of kills to extend their lead to five.
 
SNU exploded for a 5-0 run to tie the game at 17, and the teams traded points until SWOSU reached match point with SNU behind two. Back-to-back kills from Sunny Batschelett and Tessa Henry put the pressure on the Bulldogs after knotting the game back at 24-24, forcing the set into extra play. A kill by Rayanna Mauldin bumped SNU ahead by one, but three consecutive points by SWOSU allowed them to steal the set, 27-25.
 
The Bulldogs kept their momentum in set 2, breaking out an early five-point lead at 10-5. SNU fought to cut the gap, but errors and Bulldog kills allowed SWOSU to outscore the Storm 15-4 for a 25-14 set 2 win. The Bulldogs struck the Storm with an impressive offense, putting up a .282 hitting percentage that set and 17 total kills.
 
Down 2-0, the Storm needed a spark. Tied at 8-8, SNU caught fire, firming up on defense to take the lead at 17-12, but the Bulldogs exploded for a 6-0 run, taking back the lead at 18-17. It was a back-and-forth affair from there until SWOSU pieced together a few key possessions to reach match point at 24-21. Henry and Kaley Brubaker teamed up for two kills to deny SWOSU of the easy set win, sending the set into extra play once more. The Bulldogs snuck in a kill to earn the one-point lead, but two SWOSU slip-ups and a huge ace by Whitney Bowie gave SNU the set 3 victory, 27-25.
 
Now with a win under their belt, the Storm had quite the task in front of them. Looking to rob the Bulldogs of another set victory, SNU stayed the course, answering every SWOSU attack early in set 4. Multiple ties and lead changes were prominent midway through, but the set came down to the wire when a SWOSU service error tied the set at 21-21. Two quick kills by the Bulldogs forced SNU to take a timeout as they led by two at 23-21, but the break was not enough to stop SWOSU as they delivered another kill and got lucky from an SNU attack error, taking set 4, 25-21, and the overall 3-1 match win.
 
Batschelett and Henry led the Storm offense with 14 and 11 kills, respectively.
 
Brubaker led with 34 assists and Madeline Lynch led with 23 digs.
 
Up Next:
 
SNU will look to regain their footing in their next two road matches against Arkansas Tech on October 6th and Harding on October 7th. Friday's match is scheduled for 6 p.m. and Saturday's for 2 p.m.