Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 SAN ANGELO, Texas – Northwestern Oklahoma State University's current record is deceiving as the Rangers played well through their first two games at the Kathleen Brasfield ASU Invitational. The Rangers took their first loss to opponent Texas A&M-Kingsville in three sets [21-25, 19-25, 18-25].
The Ranger's second loss came from a back-and-forth battle against Fort Lewis University in four sets [23-25,26-24,24-26,24-26].
Game 1: Texas A&M-Kingsville
The Javelinas came out racing as they quickly pulled to a 5-0 lead over the Rangers. However, the Rangers, took advantage of errors and rallied back with a five-point run of their own to tie the set 8-8.
Sophomore
Kaydee Honeycutt (9 kills) and red-shirt senior
Kiauna Clark (5 kills) helped the Rangers to trade points with Texas A&M-Kingsville throughout the second half of the first set but eventually fell to the Javelinas as they took the win, 25-21.
The second set started with a battle as both teams refused to allow the other to take too much of a lead. Junior
Kate Deterding earned three kills within the first four points of the match which gave Northwestern some momentum. After tying the match up 10-10, Kingsville starts to pull away with a flurry of attacks to take the second set with a score of 25-19.
In set three both teams struggled with errors which then allowed the score to teeter between the two schools. The Javelinas appeared to start to pull away but a kill from Clark and a service ace from senior
Jennifer Eubanks tied the game 10-10
Unfortunately, the momentum changed once again in the favor of Texas A&M and after some big hits allowed them to take the third set 18-25. The Javelina's earned their second win of the day against GAC competition, with a 3-0 match win over the Rangers.
Game 2: Fort Lewis College
Northwestern's second loss of the season came from an exhaustive battle between Fort Lewis College. The match was back-and-forth, with only a two-point differential in points for each set.
Eubanks came out hot in the second match with 11 kills and five blocks. Clark and Honeycutt followed closely behind with nine kills each, while Clark also tallied three blocks in the game.
The Skyhawks stormed to an early lead in set one 9-1 but the Rangers did not go down without a fight. Back-to-back kills from Honeycutt started the momentum change for the Black-and-Red. Northwestern rallied back with a 3-0 run to tie the game 22-22. Two kills from Eubanks was not enough to hang on as Fort Lewis took the first set 25-23.
The next three sets were a dogfight as both teams battled nail and tooth.
Two more Honeycutt attacks gave the Rangers some fire at the beginning of set two and set the pace for the rest of the match. The duration of set two was volley-for-volley with the Skyhawks winning 24-22. An onslaught of attacks from Northwestern gave them a four-point run to take and secure the win 26-24.
Set three was similar to set one as the Skyhawks again came out swinging which gave them a 6-1 lead. Back-to-back service aces from Deterding pushed the Rangers to rally and tie the game 8-8. Fort Lewis took advantage of some Ranger hitting errors and the Skyhawks eventually took the third set 26-24.
Northwestern wasn't done yet. The Rangers battled hard throughout the fourth set of the match. After a six-point run the Rangers were up on the Skyhawks 20-15, however Fort Lewis came alive as they tied the game up 22-22, after a six-point run of their own. Two big blocks from the Skyhawks would seal the deal taking the match with a final set score of 26-24.
The Lady Rangers will move on to a record of 0-2, and head into their second day at the Kathleen Brasfield ASU Invitational against New Mexico Highland University September 7, at 10:00 a.m. in San Angelo, Texas.
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