Alva Review-Courier -

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Southern Nazarene moved to 5-1 all-time in Great American Conference Quarterfinal matches on Thursday night as they opened the GAC Championships with a 3-1 (25-23, 20-25, 25-21, 25-10) victory over Henderson State inside the Bank OZK Arena.

The No. 5 seed Crimson Storm's defense seems to have peaked at just the right time for head coach Kevin Ingram as they have now held their opponent to hit below .200 for the third straight match. The No. 4 seed Reddies entered Thursday riding a six-match winning streak but were stopped dead in their tracks by the energetic SNU attack.

Meagan Ellis was lethal for the Crimson Storm as she continued her dominant play of late on Thursday evening. She led the way with a game-high 15 kills to go along with 14 digs in the contest. The All-GAC First Team selection Bailee Turang racked up 13 kills to go along with a team-high 25 digs and two service aces.

More often than not, freshman tend to fold in high-pressure situations but not SNU's Sunny Batschelett. The freshman had arguably her best match of the 2019 season as she tied her career-high with 12 kills to go along with two blocks for the Storm. Bailey Grimes added 10 kills and five blocks while Kayla Thomas chipped in seven kills and one ace.

The GAC Setter of the Year Kylie Smith was also sensational for Southern Nazarene as she racked up 52 assists and also added 12 digs in the match as well. She also added three kills. On the back line, Logan Matthews and Breckynn Myers played a pivotal role in the strong defensive performance from SNU as Matthews tallied 18 digs while Myers finished with 11.

Although Southern Nazarene came out and hit just .136 in the first set, they stayed in it by holding Henderson State to a .067 hitting clip. They forced nine errors out of the Reddies as they leaped out to a quick 5-0 advantage. After HSU cut it to 12-9, a kill from Batschelett pushed the Storm lead to 15-10. Later in the set, the Reddies took their first lead in the match at 23-22, before Batschelett picked up two straight kills along with one from Grimes as the Storm stole the first set.

The Reddies responded in the second stanza with their best hitting clip of the match at .308. They held SNU to a .189 percentage as they took a 10-6 lead and later pushed it to 16-12. The Crimson Storm tried to get back in it by trimming the Reddie lead to 21-19 but HSU closed the set on a 4-1 run to tie the match 1-1.

Southern Nazarene's offense came to life in the third set as they recorded a .325 hitting clip while the defense forced six more errors out of Henderson. After a tightly contested frame, the Reddies cut the SNU lead to 22-21 before the Storm ripped off three straight points to take the pivotal 2-1 set advantage.

Chaos ensued in the fourth set as the Crimson Storm racked up 18 kills and held Henderson State to an astonishing -0.056 hitting clip. After SNU jumped out to a 9-3 lead, the Reddies called time to re-group. They weathered the offensive attack for the time being before SNU pushed their lead to 18-8. They closed the match on a 7-2 run to send the Reddies home in the opening round as SNU advanced to the GAC Semis.

Southern Nazarene faces a tough test tomorrow in the Semi-Finals as they take on No. 1 seed Oklahoma Baptist at 6:00 p.m. The two split both meetings in the regular season as the Bison advanced to the Semis with their four-set win over Arkansas Tech.