BETHANY, Okla.– Northwestern Oklahoma State University had a stellar weekend as they played in Bethany, Okla. at the OBU/SNU Tournament. The Rangers continued to show off with some new faces who got action through the weekend. Northwestern was able to improve their overall record to 9-5, with a 1-0 record in the Great American Conference.
 
They earned a three and one record over four games in two days. Friday was a split day with a great team win against Randall University [25-13, 25-10, 19-25, 25-23] and hard-fought loss to Drury University [25-22, 14-25, 17-25, 17-25]. Saturday consisted of two wins against Southwest Baptist University [25-20, 25-17, 25-18] and William Jewell University, with the latter that went to a five-set tiebreaker [25-20, 25-21, 26-28, 18-25, 15-13].
 
The Black-and-Red senior class continue to step-up when the team needs them most. Kiauna Clark led the way with two 17 kill games against Drury and William Jewell, with hitting percentages of .517 and .306 respectively. Clark had a total of 32 kills on the weekend, with 11 total blocks and 31 total digs.
 
Kaydee Honeycutt had a team leading 39 total kills with a 19-kill game against William Jewell. She totaled 42 digs; the team high for the weekend. Jennifer Eubanks continued her roll from last week as she earned 34 kills and a team-high 16 blocks. Kaitlyn Robinson led the team with 112 assists on the weekend
 
Game 1- Randall University
 
The Rangers had some new faces appear in the match against Randall University. Freshman Jessica Thompson had her first start of the year with 15 kills, four blocks, and a .433 hit percentage which helped the Black-and-Red earn their first victory of the tournament. Maggie Peterson also earned her first start in the libero position and had a team-high 15 digs in the game. Freshman Abby Davis earned 21 assists throughout the match.
 
The Rangers pulled out to an early lead against the Saints with a 6-0 run to make it 9-2. They never let go after that as Northwestern dominated Randall. A final service ace from Avery Osburg gave the Black-and-Red their first set win 25-13
 
Randall University appeared to come back with a vengeance as they pulled to a 5-1 lead, but their rally was quickly squashed as the Rangers took advantage of four Saints errors. After a 16-2 rally, Northwestern did not let up and finished the set 25-10
 
Randall refused to give up and snatched an early lead in the third set. The Rangers rallied late behind some tough Davis serves but could not pull out the win as the Saints grabbed set three 25-19.
 
Once Randall got a taste of victory, they did not want to give it up. However, the Rangers buckled down for a tough back-and-forth points battle. The fourth set alone had 11 tied scores and seven different lead changes. As the score sat at 23-21 with the Saints in the lead, Northwestern turned it up a notch as they scored four straight points which began with a Thompson kill to take the game 25-23. The Black-and-Red took the match 3-1.
 
Game 2- Drury University
 
Northwestern used their momentum from the last game to come out hot against Drury. With 14 tied scores and seven lead changes in the first set alone it proved to be a battle. Behind the leadership of Clark, who had her first 17 kill game of the weekend, the Rangers battled until the end. In the final points of the first set NWOSU earned a 23-19 lead after two back-to-back kills from Clark and earned the win after a slam by Kate Deterding to take the second set 25-22.
 
Drury took over the second set and slowly but surely began to pull away. A few errors by the Rangers solidified the Panthers second set win 25-14.
 
The Panthers continued to ride their momentum into the third set as they worked for their 8-1 lead. The Black-and-Red battle back with the help of a Honeycutt service ace to make it a 10-14 game. Unfortunately, Drury takes the reins form there and dominate the rest of the set to take the third 25-17.
 
The final set of the match the Panthers came out on fire as they earned five kills in the first eight points. Seniors Clark and Eubanks carried the battle with 5 and 4 kills respectively, but Drury took the win in the end with another score of 17-25. Drury University garnered the Ranger's only loss of the weekend 3-1.
 
Game 3- Southwest Baptist University
 
Eubanks continued her streak from the last week with eleven kills in this match alone with a hit percentage of .529. Eubanks and Clark dominated the net with five blocks each to help the Rangers dominate the Bearcats in the first match of the second day.
 
Northwestern jumped to a 10-3 lead behind stellar serves from Sydney Miller, who had two of her three total aces in the first four points of the first set, and Honeycutt with two of her own. Once the Rangers stole the lead they never let go. The Bearcats made a final attempt to catch up with a 7-1 run in the later part of the set but could not hang on. The Black-and-Red earned the first set 25-20.
 
The second set contained the only three tied scores and two lead changes of the match. Southwest Baptist obtained the first half of the match with an 8-5 lead, but the Rangers did not give up. After a 6-0 run with the help of two service aces from Robinson the Black-and-Red grabbed the lead 10-8. Northwestern took over from there and used Bearcat errors to solidify their set two win 25-17.
 
The final set of the match was dominated by the Rangers. Southwest Baptist struggled to stop the offensive attacks from the Ranger hitters. Alexi Beach stepped up with back-to-back kills to secure the win for Northwestern who claimed the third 25-18, and therefore the match 3-0.
 
Game 4- William Jewell University
 
The last game of the weekend was a full out battle between William Jewell and Northwestern. Between the two teams there were 35 tied scores and 12 lead changes. Four Rangers in Honeycutt (19), Clark (17), Eubanks (12), and Deterding (12) earned more than ten kills and helped their team past the third five set match on the year. Robinson had her best game of the weekend with 46 assists.
 
The first set began with another Miller service ace and allowed the Black-and-Red to gather some momentum. After both teams traded points for most of the set, a kill by Deterding and a huge solo block by Honeycutt sealed the Cardinals fate. Northwestern won the first set 25-20.
 
The second set appeared to be just as back-and-forth as the first as both teams battled for any headway. The longest rally of the game was 4-0 as the Rangers took advantage of some Cardinal errors to tie the score 16-16. A final slam from Honeycutt after a sneaky dump from Robinson allowed NWOSU to take the second set 25-21.
 
William Jewell took control of the third and slowly began to pull away from the Black-and-Red through the middle half of the set. Northwestern attacked in the latter half as they went on a 4-0 run to tie the game 23-23. The Cardinals pushed passed the Rangers with back-to-back kills and claimed the third set 28-26.
 
Northwestern earned an early lead in the first half of the fourth set 14-9 but the Cardinals came back with a 12-1 run. Three straight points finalized the fourth set for William Jewell to with a score of 25-18. This led to a fifth tiebreaker set between the two teams.
 
The Rangers were 2-0 when they played in a match that went five sets and didn't want that to change. WJU pulled out to an early lead after some NWOSU errors but the Black-and-Red stayed just close enough to stay in the game.
 
A 4-0 run from the Rangers allowed them to take the lead 13-11 but the Cardinals fired back with a kill and an ace to tie it 13-13. Back-to-back kills from Deterding and Eubanks slammed the door and gave the Black-and-Red their third match win on the weekend 3-2.
 
Northwestern will play their second Great American Conference match-up of the season as they face Oklahoma Baptist University Tuesday evening in Shawnee, Okla. The match is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.
 
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