Oklahoma City - Northwestern Oklahoma State traveled to Oklahoma Christian for a non-conference match Tuesday evening. Northwestern would use a solid third set to take the lead in the match before battling out a tough fifth set and earning a victory 3-2 (25-18, 18-25, 25-15 25-19, 19-17).

The Rangers were led by Kaydee Honeycutt in kills with 25 on the evening for the second-most kills in a match only behind her 26 kills earlier in the season versus Southwestern. Addison Wimmer was second with 19, followed by Russell with 13. Abby Davis led in assists with 23, followed by Abigail Burns with 22 assists. Tarra Parks led the defense with 35 digs on the night, followed by Maggie Peterson with 14 and Addison Wimmer with 13 giving her a double-double. Austyn Pine and Ravyn Burns with three blocks on the evening.

Set 1:
Russell Opened the match with the opening kill to put the Rangers on the board early with a 1-0 lead. Oklahoma Christian would have six straight points to take a 6-2 lead over the Rangers. Northwestern would slowly continue to chip back as the Red-and-Black would use four different 2-0 runs to even the score at 14-14 before taking a 15-14 lead forcing an Eagle timeout. Oklahoma Christian and Northwestern would battle from there with three ties bringing an 18-18 set. However, the Rangers would take over the opening set following a kill from Wimmer to start a 7-0 as Abigail Burns serves led to the run and an Eagle attack error to end the set. Northwestern would use that 7-0 run to win the first set. The Rangers would use a spread-out attack in the opening set with four kills from Wimmer, three from Honeycutt, and three from Russell. Parks would have four assists along with four from Davis. The Rangers' defense would get eight digs from Parks.

Set 2:

Northwestern looked to carry the momentum into set two, but the Eagles responded from the opening set loss to take the first two points and use that to build an opening 4-1 run. A Wimmer kill would start a minor 3-0 Rangers run to bring the score at 6-5 home team. Northwestern would trail 10-7 as the set went on. Following that for six straight points, the two teams would trade points back in fourth before the Rangers ended that with three consecutive points. Rangers would respond with a 4-1 run to bring the deficit to four at 22-18 forcing an Oklahoma Christian timeout. Out of the timeout, though, the Eagles would close the set out on a 3-0 run to win the second set 25-22 over the Rangers to even the match.

Set 3:

The two teams traded points early on in the third set before Northwestern would take a 4-2 lead on a kill from Honeycutt assisted by A. Burns on the point. Northwestern would go on a 4-0 run to take the lead with some breathing room in the third set behind a kill from Honeycutt and Wimmer. This would be followed by a 6-1 Rangers run to continue to build momentum and forcing a timeout by the Eagles. This would happen on continuous serves from Abigail Burns to continue to push the Rangers out in front, building a double-digit lead. Following a timeout, Parks would earn a service ace sparking another Rangers run, this time a 6-1 run before three straight kills, two from Wimmer and one from Honeycutt would seal the Rangers set three victory at 25-15 over the Eagles to build a 2-1 match lead.

Set 4:

Oklahoma Christian answered with the first two points of set four, but Northwestern would respond fast, rattling off the following four points to take a 4-2 lead behind a kill from Honeycutt on serves from Parks, forcing two Eagle errors. Oklahoma Christian and Northwestern would then be tied at 6-6. Northwestern would take the following four consecutive points on back-to-back kills from Courtney Russell. With Northwestern continuing to hold their lead at 11-7, the Eagles would make their move coming back tying the set at 15-15. The Eagles would go on a 4-1 run to open a 19-16 lead forcing a Northwestern timeout. Out of the Ranger timeout, the two teams would trade points before Oklahoma Christian would close out set four with a 25-19 victory to force a fifth set.

Set 5:
In the fifth set, a Parks serve would start things off for the Rangers leading to the opening point following an Eagle error. The score would be locked at three before two more lead changes and ties. The set was even at five when the Rangers went on a 5-0 run started by a Russell kill and a Carmae Jone service ace to help give the Rangers a 10-5 lead and forcing Oklahoma Christians second timeout of the set. The two teams would trade 2-0 runs straight out of the timeout to give the Rangers a 12-7 lead. Following the Rangers 2-0 run, Oklahoma Christian would go on a 4-0 run to cut the deficit to one at 12-11. The two teams would continue to battle the match out as they were locked at 15-15. The teams continued to trade point for point as the match would be extended at 15-15. The Rangers would pull off the victory at 19-17 as Honeycutt would have four straight kills for the Rangers before a Wimmer kill, and then an Eagle error ended the match 19-17, with the Rangers winning the match 3-2.

Northwestern will return to conference play on Friday and Saturday, traveling to Arkadelphia to face Henderson State on Friday at 6:30 PM start time and Ouachita Baptist Saturday at 1:00PM. 

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