KEARNEY, Neb. – The Northwestern Oklahoma State volleyball team opened up play in the New Victorian Inn & Suites/Runza Fall Classic with a 3-0 loss to Rockhurst University, followed by another tough 3-0 defeat at the hands of Texas A&M Kingsville.

The first loss of the 2017 season for the Rangers came from a Rockhurst (4-1, 0-0 MIAA) program that is coming off a 27-7 campaign in 2016.
Junior Hannah Williams led the Rangers with eight kills and also recorded three digs. Senior Carley Geer produced a team-high 15 digs while fellow senior LaMonica Peacock and sophomore Jennifer Eubanks each had three blocks.

Northwestern held strong with the Hawks throughout the first set, keeping the Rockhurt lead to just 22-20 until the opposing squad finished off the first game with a 3-1 run to go up one set in the match. The second set saw the Hawks go on a 9-1 run to finish off a 25-11 victory to move up two games to none.

Rockhurst out-hit the Black-and-Red with an attack percentage of .211 compared to the Rangers percentage of .096. The Hawks also managed a total of 47 kills throughout the contest.

The third and final set saw the Rangers jump out to an early 9-7 run, but Rockhurst quickly answered with five straight points of their own to jump back on top, 12-9. Northwestern countered with four points of their own, but the Rockhurst offense continued to produce points in bunches with their second straight five-point run.

That five-point run helped shift the momentum back into the hands of Rockhurst, and propelled them to a 25-19 set victory which sealed the match
 
In the second match of the afternoon, Northwestern ran into another tough opponent in Texas A&M Kingsville. The opening set was back and forth until a 5-0 run in favor of the Javelinas made it a 14-8 game. The Rangers managed to fight back to within reach with Kiauna Clark cutting the deficit to just one with a pair of kills to make it 17-16 TAMUK. But the tough Javelina defense would only allow two more points in the set, closing it out with an 8-2 run.

The black-and-red put together what was statistically their best set of the match in the second, posting a .233 attack percentage in an effort to solve the Javelinas. After Northwestern jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead in the second set, Kingsville countered with three to tie it up. The two teams exchanged blows throughout the set but it would be Kingsville holding a 2-0 lead heading into the third.

Finding themselves against the ropes and down 2-0 in their second straight match, the Rangers were able to keep pace with the Javelinas for the first half of the third set with an impressive attack from Brooklyn Hesson and Eubanks. But Kingsville riffled off a 10-3 run to topple the Rangers in straight sets.
 
Up Next
The Rangers will continue play in Kearney, Neb. tomorrow as they take on host school University of Nebraska at Kearney at 12 p.m. followed by a 4 p.m. contest against Western State Colorado University.

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