BETHANY, Okla. – The Northwestern Oklahoma State volleyball team picked up a 3-1 (25-21,26-24, 18-25, 25-20) victory over Southern Nazarene to notch their 11^th straight victory.

The victory opens up a three game road stretch for the Rangers (16-5, 6-1 GAC) against three teams that sit near the top of the conference standings and will serve as a catalyst as the Black-and-Red make their first long road trip to Arkansas.

Junior Brooklynn Hesson proved to be an unrelenting force at the net as she knocked down 20 kills on the evening and consistently put pressure on the Southern Nazarene (9-10, 4-3 GAC) defense. Hesson hit. 281 for the evening and was back up on the offensive side of the ball once again by sophomore Jennifer Eubanks and junior Hannah Williams, who each posted 11 kills apiece.

Freshman Kaitlyn Robinson continued to operate the offense smoothly and recorded 42 assists while also making 15 digs throughout the evening.

The Rangers got off to a quick start in the opening set of the match, frequently relying on the services of Hesson, who notched seven kills in her first 15 total attacks in the set to lead the Rangers to a 25-22 opening victory. The Rangers opened the game up with a steady offensive rhythm, piecing together a 17-13 lead and then closed out the set victory thanks to an assist block from Robinson and Eubanks.

Both squads struggled early on in the second set with six attack errors combined going into the 7-7 mark of the game. Northwestern capitalized on the rusty start for both teams and strung together three consecutive kills from Williams, Hesson, and senior Liz Dwyer to force an immediate Storm timeout after the Rangers gained the 10-7 upper-hand.

Southern Nazarene quickly responded after the brief stretch of Ranger points and tied the set back up at 17-17. Both teams traded blows heading down the stretch before Hesson once again put down a timely kill to gain the 22-21 advantage for the Black-and-Red. Junior Tobi Barker followed up the kill from Hesson with a service ace to once again force a Southern Nazarene timeout, leading 23-21.

Barker led the squad with two service aces and also managed 10 digs on the back row.

Barker's second ace put the Rangers within one point of the set victory, but three straight Storm points put the match back to all square at 24-24. With the set victory hanging in the balance, Hesson put down her 15^th kill of the first two sets to score the key 25^th point. Senior Carley Geer then knocked down the set winning point, putting the Rangers up 2-0 in the match after the 26-24 victory.

Following an early 15-10 deficit for the Rangers, head coach Jeremy White called a timeout to try and slow down an awakened Southern Nazarene attack early on in the third set. The early adjustments were unsuccessful, as the lead was increased to as much as 18-12 in favor of the home squad, but three straight Ranger points brought them back to within three at 18-15.

However, a 7-3 run to end the set handed the Rangers their only loss of the game and ended their pursuit of a sweep.

Despite being unable to complete the sweet of the Storm in the third set, the Rangers controlled the majority of the fourth set and defeated the home squad, 25-22, and took the match.  

Northwestern will now look to record their 12^th straight win on the road at Harding on Oct. 13, and will then square off with undefeated Arkansas Tech on Oct. 14. First set for those matches are set for a 6 p.m. and 2 p.m. start, and will be crucial for conference tournament seeding as the Rangers are now tied for second place in the conference at 6-1 with Oklahoma Baptist and Harding.