ROLLA, MISSOURI – The Northwestern Oklahoma State volleyball team opened the season at the Missouri S&T tournament. The Rangers split the two matches to start the season by defeating Missouri S&T, 3-0, and falling to Missouri Southern, 3-0.

Overall, the Rangers sit at 1-1 after the first two games of the season.

In the first game of the day against Missouri Southern, the Rangers immediately fell into a 10-5 deficit, but rallied back to close the gap to one point. The Lions eventually pulled away to win the first set, 25-19.

The second set was the closest of the three, with Missouri Southern once again toppling the Rangers, 25-21. The Lions completed the sweep by winning the third set, 25-14.

Ivanny Blackwood led the Rangers in kills with nine, while Ece Ozdemir and Tess De Zanet each had five. Mikayla White finished with 19 assists and racked up nine digs, and led the Rangers in both categories.

In the second game of the day, the Rangers swept Missouri S&T by winning all three sets.

The first set was a battle between the Rangers and the Miners, with Northwestern surviving off kills from Naya Danenberg and Ivanny Blackwood to win, 26-24.

The Rangers won the next two sets, 25-21, and 25-12, to get their first victory of the season, with the third set featuring 7-0 and 8-0 runs to close out the game.

White led the Rangers in assists once again with 30, while also hitting .667 for the evening.

Danenberg and Blackwood controlled the offense for the Rangers, with Danenberg putting up 12 kills on a .579 clip, Blackwood recording 11, and De Zanet finishing with eight. Ozdemir finished with the most digs amongst the Rangers with 11, while Danenberg was not far behind with 10.

The Rangers will wrap up the tournament with games against Minnesota State – Mankato at noon and Christian Brothers University at 2:30 p.m.

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