ALVA, OKLAHOMA - Northwestern Oklahoma State Volleyball finished the home portion of their 2023 schedule with the senior day game against East Central. Before the game the Rangers honored four seniors in Carmae Jones, Abigail Williams, Cameron Lobb, and Abby Davis.
East Central took the match 3-0 over the Rangers completing the sweep over Northwestern the Tigers improved to 12-14 on the season with a 7-7 conference record. The Rangers drop to 9-16 on the season with a 5-9 Great American Conference Record.
The Rangers were led by Mariela Jimenez in kills with 10 on the evening as Carmae Jones finished with six blocks, Abby Davis with 32 assists and Erika Asencio Soriano 12 digs. The 32 assists for Davis accomplished a career achievement pushing her over 1,000 career assists.
In the opening set Ivanny Blackwood got things started with a kill pushed through the Tiger defense followed by a Tiger error had the Rangers in front early 2-0. East Central answered back with three straight points to take a 3-2 lead over the Rangers. The two teams strongly battled back and forth as the set was tied at 7-7 before the Tigers went for five straight points extending their lead to 12-7 over the Rangers. A kill by Abby Davis after dropping one in over the Tigers ended the run for the visitors. East Central pushed their lead to 20-12 following a 5-1 run. Macy Shreffler picked up a kill followed by one from Carmae Jones as the Rangers looked to inch back into the set. East Central though kept the Rangers in distance as the Tigers closed out a set one victory 25-18 over the Rangers for a 1-0 match lead.
The second set the Tigers were first to score this time as they jumped out to an early 2-0 lead. Mariela Jimenez though finished off a kill to put the Rangers on the board before a block by Jimenez had the Rangers even at 2-2. With the Rangers trailing 3-2 a service error followed by two attack errors had the Rangers in front 5-3. Northwestern held a one point advantage at 8-7 before a kill by Erika Asencio Soriano started a 3-0 run followed by a 5-0 run as the Rangers opened a 18-9 lead. Shreffler had four kills on this run, closed off by an Ece Ozdemir service ace. Following an East Central timeout the Tigers went on a 6-1 run to start inching back into the set and cut the deficit to 19-15. Mariela Jimenez ended the visiting run to keep the Rangers in front this time 21-16. East Central though was able to tie the set back following a 5-0 run to make it a 21-21 game in set two. The teams traded points as the set two was extended as the set was locked at 25-25 before the Tigers were able to get two straight and complete the comeback and win the set 27-25 and take a 2-0 match lead.
Macy Shreffler tried to change the momentum opening the set with a kill to take a 1-0 lead. Erika Asencio Soriano had back to back kills to take a 5-2 lead. East Central battled back to cut the deficit to one at 7-6. Jimenez finished off a kill to take a 10-7 lead for the Rangers but East Central responded with six straight points which included four blocks, three straight, as the Tigers took a 15-11 lead. The Rangers got within two multiple times but the Rangers were not able to tie the set or take the lead. As the Tigers matched reached run. East Central led 19-18 before pushing the lead back to three at 22-19 and finished off the match with the final three points of the set. The Rangers fell 25-21 in the final set as East Central completed the sweep 3-0.
Northwestern will be back in action on Tuesday against Southeastern Oklahoma State in Durant, Oklahoma with start time set for 7:00 PM.
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