HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Second seed Northwestern Oklahoma State’s volleyball team took a barnburner from seven seed Ouachita Baptist in their first Great American Conference Championship match Thursday afternoon. The Rangers dropped the first set to the Tigers and then grabbed three straight all with a matching score [20-25, 25-22, 25-22, 25-22]. There were 30 different tied scores and 14 lead changes throughout the match with the largest battle taking place in the fourth set. This win marked the first post-season win in program history.

Kaydee Honeycutt’s 22 kills was the game leading high between both teams as well as her career high. She also tallied 11 digs and had a it percentage of .259. Seniors, and first team All-GAC selections Jennifer Eubanks and Kiauna Clark each reached double figures in kills with 10 and 12 respectively and earned 5 blocks a piece. Eubanks led the team with a .318 hit percentage.

Kaitlyn Robinson earned 32 assists of the 49 in the match and that 32 was enough to earn Robinson the Northwestern single season assist record with 996. She passed Suka Tafao’s record of 969 that has been there since 2014. Sydnee Miller had herself another game with her seventh 30+ dig match this season with 31 digs in the match. Kate Deterding tallied the most blocks in the match with 6 and had seven kills.

The Tigers challenged the Rangers high seed in the first match as their hit percentage was the highest the whole match at .192, with Northwestern hit percentage kept to a low .157. With the score tied at 11-11 the Tigers took the momentum. Despite a seven-kill effort from Honeycutt the Black and Red were unable to hold on and dropped the first set 20-25.

Northwestern jumped to an early lead in the second set and dominated the first half 11-7. Ouachita started to creep back but some stellar serving by Miller, with a service ace and multiple errors from the Tigers gave the Rangers a seven-point run but followed with their own six-point run which kept the match close. Back-to-back kills from Honeycutt secured the set two win 25-22.

The third set was dominated by the Black and Red with only one tied score and no lead changes through the entire match. The Rangers quickly jumped to a 13-9 lead; however, Ouachita Baptist tied the match 14-14. Northwestern attackers came to life to finish the match as kills from Honeycutt, Eubanks, and a final slam from Clark snatched the set 25-22.

The fourth set was a nail-biter with 15 different tied scores, and five lead changes. Neither team could take more than a two-point lead throughout the match until set point. In the final points of the match the Rangers had help from all parts of the court with kills coming from Claire Hodges, Deterding, Eubanks, and Honeycutt. A final attack error from the Tigers gave Northwestern the final point they needed to take the set and match 25-22.

The Black and Red advanced to the second round of the tournament to face-off against Harding who defeated Southwestern in the first round 3-1. The second round match-up will take place Friday afternoon at 3:30 p.m. in Hot Springs, Arkansas.