Volleyball makes it six straight with rivalry victory

 

September 24, 2017

Desiree Malicoat

Carley Geer dives for the ball at the game Thursday evening. Northwestern's volleyball team picked up their second straight conference win at home against arch-rival Southwestern Oklahoma State University, 3-2.

ALVA, Okla. – The Northwestern Oklahoma State volleyball team picked up their second straight conference victory at home Thursday against arch-rival Southwestern Oklahoma State, 3-2 (21-25, 25-19, 25-20, 23-25, 15-11).

A 2-1 early advantage for the Black and Red was negated after a fourth-set victory by the Bulldogs forced the Rangers (11-5, 2-1 GAC) to close out the match in the fifth set with a 15-11 victory. The always intense rivalry game played out like a typical rivalry match, with both teams antsy at times, resulting in multiple lead changes throughout each set.

Both teams produced sub-par hitting percentages with Southwestern (4-11, 1-2 GAC) hitting .109 as a team and Northwestern hitting .163. However, a balanced Ranger attack and some timely kills from standout Jennifer Eubanks allowed Northwestern to take home the match and notch their sixth consecutive victory.

Four different Rangers accounted for 10 or more kills in Eubanks, Brooklynn Hesson, Kiauna Clark and Hannah Williams. That diverse offense was put on full display in the fifth and final set, as Northwestern posted a match-high hitting percentage of .346 to seal the deal for head coach Jeremy White's first victory over the Bulldogs.10573

The first set alternated with big runs by both teams to begin the match as Eubanks got started early with four kills to drive an 11-3 opening lead for the Rangers. Eubanks would finish the contest with 17 kills on 34 total attacks for a hitting percentage of .382.

The early lead was quickly answered by Southwestern as five straight points narrowed the Ranger lead to just 11-8. That stretch allowed the Bulldogs to settle and put together two more stretches of four or more points in a row and jumped out ahead of the Rangers with the first set victory of the evening.

Clark and Williams combined for a big set in the second game of the match and led the Rangers to a match tying 25-19 victory. Clark put in her normal heavy work load and finished out the match with 11 kills, 16 assists and 21 digs. Williams followed up her brilliant performance against East Central on Tuesday night with 12 kills and eight digs of her own.

Desiree Malicoat

Jennifer Eubanks (10) goes for the kill in Thursday night's game against Southwestern Oklahoma State University. Northwestern Oklahoma State University beat SWOSU 3-2.

Both teams continued to battle and picked up one more set a piece before heading into the game-deciding fifth set. A quick 5-3 Southwestern start forced a timeout for the Black and Red that sparked a 4-1 run of their own thanks to two kills from Williams and one from Clark.

The Bulldogs regained the lead back in their favor at the 9-8 mark, before five straight Ranger points that included a timely kill from Eubanks gave the Rangers some much needed cushion in a closely contested match. A kill from Hesson set up the final point to be notched by Eubanks in yet another classic match in the storied rivalry.

Hesson finished up her evening with 13 kills and 10 digs while freshman Kaitlyn Robinson posted a team-high 36 assists.

Up Next

The Rangers will take a much needed breather over the weekend before heading to Bethany to take on Southern Nazarene University on Sept. 26 at 7 p.m.

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