Alva Review-Courier -

SHAWNEE – Oklahoma Baptist went 2-0 on Thursday in Shawnee inside Mabee Arena at the Noble Complex. The Lady Bison handed Southwestern Oklahoma State their first loss against a Great American Conference opponent this season, 3-1 (26-24, 25-12, 19-25, 25-18), before taking down Arkansas-Fort Smith for just the third time in program history, 3-1 (20-25, 25-21, 25-23, 25-20). The pair of wins raises OBU above .500 for the first time in 2018 since the opening weekend of the season.

Defense was at the forefront for the Lady Bison, with OBU digging 201 balls combined for the two matches. The 110 digs OBU recorded in the win against SWOSU ranks as the highest amount, regardless of sets played, in OBU's Division II era.

In the first match of the day, the Lady Bison and Bulldogs battled a tightly contested first set, with the match still tied at 21-21 after Brenna Holley scored off a feed from Hayden Blair. An ace by Nicole Fleitman and another Holley kill would grow the lead to 23-21, prompting a SWOSU timeout. The Bulldogs put together a string of three points to push the match to set point. However, OBU hung tough and got kills from Mikayla Watson, Brecken Roquemore and Taylor Williams to take a 1-0 lead.

Oklahoma Baptist was dominant in the second set, holding SWOSU to just seven kills on .021 hitting. Malia Leatherland and Roquemore combined for 8 kills, with Gremmel dishing out seven helpers. Kelsi Chavez kept the floor clean for OBU, digging out 12 balls. The Lady Bison would take the set emphatically, 25-12, to take a 2-0 lead.

In the third set, OBU's offense went cold, securing just eight kills, including three from Leatherland. However, every kill was assisted.

Southwestern Oklahoma State jumped out to a narrow lead in the early going of the pivotal fourth set. However, the Lady Bison were able to take the lead and grow it to 16-12 off a block by Leatherland and Williams. A Leatherland ace made the match 22-16, and a short time later Delayna Mills scored an ace of her own to bring up match point. Blair set up Williams for the final kill of the set to take the match and knock SWOSU from the ranks of the unbeaten in the GAC.

Leatherland and Chavez finished with a team-high 28 digs, with the figure representing a career-high for Leatherland. Gremmel finished with 19, and Watson 14.

Offensively, Leatherland led the way with 16 kills, followed by Holley with 10. Blair had a team-high 29 digs, while Gremmel had 20.

In the second match, OBU dropped the first set before tidying up and taking the final three sets in the contest.

The third set proved a breaking point for the Lions as Oklahoma Baptist held UAFS to just 10 kills against six errors for a .087 hitting percentage. Watson was firing on all cylinders, laying down seven kills, nearly equaling the team total for UAFS by herself. She was supported by Fleitman who scored four kills. Gremmel supplied 16 of the team's 17 assists in the frame.

Though UAFS was within striking distance of OBU at the end of the fourth set, the Lady Bison never trailed and only allowed the score to be tied once. Leatherland led the attack with five kills, including an emphatic kill to put OBU two points away from victory after capitalizing on an errant dig by the Lions, while Watson and Williams had four apiece. Roquemore claimed match point off a feed from Gremmel.

Watson finished with a team-high 15 kills, followed by Leatherland with 14 and Roquemore with 10. Gremmel finished with 44 assists and chipped in with six kills on .500 hitting as well.

Chavez led the defense with 25 digs, while Leatherland (19), Blair (17) and Watson (11) also touched double figures. Roquemore had a match-best six total blocks.

Oklahoma Baptist (11-10, 4-1 GAC) has the week off. The Lady Bison return to action next Friday, Sept. 28 when they head to Arkadelphia, Arkansas, to take on Henderson State at 6:30 p.m.