Alva Oklahoma - The Rangers won the conference opening match against Southeastern Oklahoma State in a full five sets. Northwestern rattled off three straight points to comeback and win the fifth set after trailing 13-12 late in the match.

The win moves the Rangers to 3-6 on the season with a 1-0 conference record while the loss drops Southeastern to 3-6 with a record of 0-1 in conference.

Northwestern was led by Erika Asencio in kills with 20 followed by Macy Shreffler with 14, Carmae Jones finished with four blocks, Cameron Lobb had 49 assists and Brianda Diaz closed the match with 14 digs.
 

Set One: 

Rangers started off set one strong with back-to-back points. The Storm followed with a point, putting them on the scoreboard. The Rangers then made a 7-0 run, making the score 9-2, forcing the storm into their first timeout. After a few point-to-point exchanges, Ivanny Blackwood scored with a big hit advancing the score to 11-5. The Storm later began matching the energy with a big block . After the Storm scored another point, advancing the score 16-11, the Rangers took their first timeout of the set to regroup. The Storm advanced the score with back-to-back points by Mills to put them back in the set. The Rangers held the lead 19-16. The Rangers then fired back with a big kill from Blackwood, pursuing their lead 20-17. Asencio Soriano followed with another big play, scoring again for the Lady Rangers. Shreffler for the Rangers forced the Storm into their second timeout of the set, with a huge kill. This placed the Rangers up 23-19. The Lady Rangers took the first set 25-19 after a Storm error. 
 

Set Two: 

The Storm took the first point of the second set. Immediately following, Lady Ranger Shreffler put the Rangers on the board with a big kill. Ascencio Soriano made an enormous play on the ball adding another point to the Ranger total 4-6. Asencio Soriano added two more points to the Ranger score with some beautiful hits, placing the Rangers down 7-9. Rocha for the Storm did not fault, putting multiple points on the board to keep the Storm out in front. The Rangers then took their first time out of the set (9-15). Firing back, Shreffler scores with a big hit for the Rangers. A huge block by Ascencio Soriano helped bring the Rangers back into the game. Placing the score 14-17. The Storm tried to respond but was blocked by a ranger duo: Jones and Asencio Soriano. This play puts the Rangers only a singular point behind in the set (18-19). The Storm answered with two points, forcing the Rangers into their second timeout. The Storm finished the set by extending their lead to 20-25 over the Lady Rangers, winning set two.
 

Set Three:

The Rangers score the first point of set three. After some point-to-point plays, Ascencio Soriano breaks her hit through the arms of the storm, and immediately followed by that play Soriano blocked big for the Rangers. Increasing the lead to 5-2. After many exciting rallies, the Storm fought back to tie the set (7-7). With back-to-back kills by Macy Shreffler, the Rangers gained the lead again 10-9. The Rangers increased their lead to 15-11 with some great hustle plays making the Storm to take a timeout. The Storm returned the energy with some big plays, advancing the score to 16-14. Rangers took this opportunity for a timeout. Camera Jones scored again for the Lady Rangers with a big play, placing the ball in the storm gap. Advancing the score to 19-15 and pushing the Storm into another timeout. After another long rally, Mariela Jimenez added another big point to the Lady Ranger's total (21-18). With an ace to win the set, Shreffler finalized the score for set three 25-20 in favor of the Rangers for a 2-1 match lead. 
 

Set Four: 

The Lady Storm came out on the scoreboard with the first two points of the set. Cameron Lobb answered with a kill, putting the Rangers on the board. Ascencio Soriano had back-to-back unstoppable hits, advanced the score 5-7. The Rangers took their first timeout of the set (6-8). Soriano ended the Storm's five-point run with yet another devastating kill (7-11). With some excellent plays, the Lady Rangers fought back to tie the score 13-13. The Lady Storm answered this effort putting multiple points on the board to regain the lead at 16-18. Finding the gaps, the Lady Storm finished by adding points on the board, winning the set 25-22. 
 

Set Five: 

The Rangers were the first team to put points on the board. Ivanny Blackwood put a stop to the Storm's three-point run with a block for the Rangers. Then, Blackwood tied the game with an ace on her serve. A huge kill by Ascencio Soriano put the Rangers up 8-7. The Storm blocked the Ranger's attempt to score, advancing the score 8-8. After the Lady Storm scored off a kill, Carmae Jones answered with crucial ball placement, leading to a point for a 9-9 game. After point-to-point plays, Ascencio Soriano landed another critical kill to put the Lady Rangers in the lead 11-10. The Lady Storm returned with two points, forcing the Rangers into a timeout 12-11. Yet another huge play by the Rangers tied the set back up 12-12. After a Lady Storm point, Macy Shreffler added another point to the board making the score 13-13. A Storm error put the Lady Rangers up by one and sent the Storm into a timeout. The Rangers then scored the final point, winning the set 15-13 and winning the match 3-2.

Northwestern will return to action this weekend for two matches one against Missouri S&T and the other against Upper Iowa before returning to conference play at home on September 19th against Oklahoma Baptist.

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