Alva Review-Courier -

ALVA, Oklahoma – The Rangers continued volleyball conference play with a home match Friday night against the Tigers of East Central on senior night. Northwestern would use a solid first set, winning 25-16, before using the fast start to win the match 3-1 over the Tigers.

The win improves Northwestern to 10-18 on the season and 5-10 in conference play. The Tigers fall to 13-13 on the season and 9-5 in conference play.

"We tried a different lineup tonight, and it worked well. The team followed the game plan perfectly!" stated head coach Fred Aubuchon following the win.

Kaydee Honeycutt led the Rangers in kills with 15, followed by Courtney Russell's nine and Carmae Jones with six. Jones led the team with eight blocks on the evening, followed by Kaydee Honeycutt and Courtney Russell with three each. Abby Davis led the team with 25 assists, followed by Kelsey Ripperger with 16. Addison Wimmer led the team with 26 digs, Tarra Parks with 20, and Maggie Peterson with eight.

SET 1

Northwestern jumped out fast, taking an early 5-0 lead over the Tigers after Honeycutt started the game with two straight kills followed by a Tarra Parks service ace. The Tigers got a single point before the Rangers went back on a 4-0 run to extend their lead to 9-1. East Central answered with a point before Northwestern's 4-0 run to open a double-digit lead at 14-2. A Jones kill continued the Rangers' run, pushing the lead at 16-4. A 5-1 run with kills by Parks, Russell, and Madison Dehlinger pushed the Northwestern lead to 20-6 in the opening set. East Central tried to fight back, going on a 6-0 run to push the Rangers lead down to 23-16. Back-to-back Ranger kills by Dehlinger and Jones would close the opening set for a 25-16 win to take a 1-0 match lead.

SET 2

Northwestern jumped out fast again in the second set opening a 3-0 lead on a kill by Ravyn Burns, followed by a service ace from Wimmer. The Tigers answered right back to even the score at 3-3. East Central continued their run with a 4-0 run to take an 8-4 lead over the Rangers. The Red-and-Black answered back to even the score at 8-8 following kills from Jones and Courtney Russell. The Tigers of East Central gained some separation opening an 18-11 lead over the Rangers. Northwestern climbed back with six consecutive points to push the deficit to one following a Jones kill. The Tigers closed out Set 2 with a 25-21 win, evening the match at 1-1.

SET 3

The Red-and-Black opened the scoring in the third set with an error from the Tigers. Northwestern held the lead but could not gain much separation in the early going, with East Central matching points pushing the lead at one point for an 8-7 Rangers advantage. With the score at 10-9 in favor of the Rangers, Northwestern pushed a 3-0 run on kills from Jones, Russell, and Honeycutt to take a 13-9 lead before the Tigers matched it to even the score at 13-13. Northwestern again used a 4-0 run to open a 17-13 lead following Maggie Peterson serves, leading to three attack errors by the Tigers. Later in the set, the Tigers used a 4-0 run to bring it back within one, and after evening, the set was 22-22. A Honeycutt kill pushed the Rangers' lead to 23-22 and 24-23 before the Tigers extended the set. The score was tied at 26-26 when a kill by Wimmer and service ace pushed the Rangers to a Set 3 victory and a 2-1 match lead following the hit by Russell.

SET 4

The Tigers opened the scoring in the fourth set with back-to-back points to open a 2-0 lead. With the visitors leading 7-4 in the set, the Rangers attacked back with four consecutive points started by a Wimmer kill to give the Rangers an 8-7 lead. The set went back and forth as the Tigers tied the set at 11-11. A kill by Honeycutt started the Rangers' next run, pushing the team to a 15-12 lead. East Central used a late run to tie the set at 18-18. A kill by Honeycutt started the next run for the Rangers, pushing the lead to 21-18. The Tigers climbed back to tie the set at 21-21. Northwestern ended the match with four straight points to answer, started by a Tigers error, followed by kills from Russell and Honeycutt. Northwestern won the set 25-21 and was 3-1 in the match overall.

Northwestern will travel on the road Tuesday to Durant to take on Southeastern Oklahoma State before returning home Friday for a match against Southwestern to close out the regular season.