ALVA, Okla.- Northwestern Oklahoma State Rangers took a tough loss Thursday evening against first seeded Oklahoma Baptist. The Black and Red came out to a hot start but were unable to hold their momentum throughout the entire match [25-21, 29-25, 21-25, 28-30}.
Kaydee Honeycutt led the team with 16 kills and had 19 digs. Seniors Jennifer Eubanks and Kiauna Clark ended her final regular season with 8 and 15 kills respectively. Freshman Alexi Beach led the team with four total blocks. Kaitlyn Robinson had 43 total assists in the match and Sydnee Miller led the team with 28 digs.
The first set was all about the Rangers as they took an early lead and held on tight. A 7-1 run from the Bison caused some worry as they pulled to within one with a score of 18-17. Another rally tied the score 22-22 but back-to-back kills from Deterding allowed the Northwestern to walk away with the first set 25-23.
The second set was a flurry of points from both teams as they had 12 different tied scores. Despite a timely kill from Clark to tie the match 19-19 the Bison tacked on six straight in order to take the second match with a score of 25-19.
The Black and Red jumped back into action in the beginning portion of the third set as they took an early 5-1 lead with tough serving from Honeycutt. The Rangers held the lead until a lead change took place after a tied 15-15 set, when the Bison went on a six-point run. A final effort came from a small three-point run and a Honeycutt kill but it was not enough, and the Bison took the second set 25-21.
The fourth set was an incredible match from both teams with 21 ties and 21 different lead changes. Just when the Bison seem to be pulling away the Rangers rallied back with a four-point run to take the lead 18-17 with a timely dump from setter Robinson. From there the set was a back-and-forth battle six different lead changes within the last ten points alone. Despite a final effort from Northwestern, they could not hang on and took the loss 30-28.
Even after the loss the Rangers have clinched a Great American Conference berth and have solidified their position as the number two seed in the tournament. This means that the Black-and-Red will play their first match of the tournament on Thursday afternoon in Hot Springs, Arkansas, beginning at 2:30 p.m. against Ouachita Baptist.
Reader Comments(0)