BETHANY, Okla. – The Northwestern Oklahoma State volleyball team pulled off two more victories over Missouri Southern State and Southwest Baptist to finish up the GAC/MIAA Crossover with an undefeated 4-0 record.
Game One
The Rangers (8-5, 0-1 GAC) came back after a 25-22 defeat in the opening set by Missouri Southern State and rattled off three straight set victories to defeat the Lions 3-1 in the third match for the Rangers in the GAC/MIAA Crossover.
Following the 25-22 victory in favor of Missouri Southern State (6-5, 0-0 MIAA), head coach
Jeremy White's squad got back on track quickly and defeated the Lions with scores of 25-11, 25-21 and 25-17. Nine straight points from the Black-and-Red to end the second set proved to be the turning point in the contest as four errors combined with highlight-reel kills from junior
Hannah Williams and sophomore
Jennifer Eubanks rattled the Lions and allowed the Rangers to cruise to two more victories to remain undefeated for the weekend.
Williams led the way with 13 kills while Eubanks continued her stellar play for the weekend with 12 kills in 25 total attacks to finish with a .360 hitting percentage.
Two kills from Williams and a set-finishing score from
Kiauna Clark moved the Rangers ahead in the match 2-1 following the 25-21 set victory. Northwestern used a 7-1 run in the middle of the game to take the lead and never looked back as the combination of Williams, Clark, and transfer
Brooklynn Hesson continually gave the Lion defense trouble throughout the set.
Clark finished the match with six kills, 21 assists and 15 digs while Hesson posted a .321 attack percentage with 10 kills in 28 total attacks.
The Black-and-Red finished off the fourth and final set by jumping out to a 15-8 lead and never looked back as they extended the lead to as much as 20-9 before finally finishing off the Lions, 25-17.
Northwestern finished the match with 11 total blocks and put down 50 kills.
Game Two
The Rangers closed out the GAC/MIAA Crossover with a 3-0 (25-23, 25-21, 25-20) sweep of Southwestern Baptist (1-11, 0-0 MIAA) to finish off the undefeated weekend and moves their record to 9-5 for the season.
Eubanks finished off a tremendous weekend with possibly her best performance yet, totaling 13 kills in 22 total attacks, posting a hitting percentage of .500 in the match. Hesson also reached double-digits in the kill category with 11 of her own.
Clark and freshman
Kaitlyn Robinson both continually set up Eubanks and Hesson well as they totaled 20 and 17 assists apiece. Senior
Carley Geer posted a team-high 16 digs.
Northwestern, as they have done all weekend, came through in the clutch final points of the first set and went on a 6-2 run to capture their first of three victories in the set, 25-23. Eubanks got started early, totaling six kills in the opening set and established herself as a force that continued throughout the match.
The Rangers kept it rolling to start the second set, gaining a 9-2 advantage before a flurry of Southwest Baptist points tied the score up at 14 points apiece. The Black-and-Red settled in and finished off Southwest Baptist with ease in the second set and then the third set to finish off a spectacular weekend.
Up Next
Northwestern will look to keep riding strong as they get back to conference on Sep. 19 at 7 p.m. in Ada, Okla. to take on the East Central Tigers.
