HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Southern Nazarene became the second team in as many matches at the 2015 Great American Conference Volleyball Championships – Presented by Subway to recover from dropping the opening set before winning as the Crimson Storm eliminated Ouachita in four sets on Friday at the Bank of the Ozarks Arena. Abbey Bell broke own GAC Championship single-game record for digs with 34 and Lexie Matthews totaled 18 kills, a career high.
GAC Volleyball Championships –
Presented by Subway: Quarterfinal #2 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
| #7 Ouachita (15-12) |
25 |
19 |
19 |
21 |
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| #2 Southern Nazarene (16-16) |
21 |
25 |
25 |
25 |
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| OFFENSIVE LEADERS: |
| Ouachita: |
Kori Bullard: 16 kills, .256 attack percentage |
| Abby Pickett: 12 kills, 3 blocks, 13.5 points scored |
| Stormi Leonard: 39 assists |
| Southern Nazarene: |
Lexie Matthews: 18 kills, .268 attack percentage, 4 service aces |
| Courtney Bowie: 12 kills, .310 attack percentage |
| Elyse Berlin: 47 assists, 18 digs |
| DEFENSIVE LEADERS: |
| Ouachita: |
Ashley Wake: 24 digs |
| Anna LeTourneau: 15 digs |
| Caitlin Cantrell: 3 blocks |
| Southern Nazarene: |
Abbey Bell: 34 digs (GAC Championship single-game record) |
| Kaitlyn Vought & Matthews: 12 digs and 4 blocks |
| McKenna Benner: 5 blocks |
FIRST SET HIGHLIGHTS:
Ouachita took the opening set that saw the Tigers open with a 6-2 advantage, only to fall behind 11-8 before taking the lead for good at 14-13. The Tigers posted their best attack percentage of the match, .220. Pickett, the Player of the Year, led the way with five kills. Leonard collected 12 assists, Wake totaled seven digs and Nikki Clay served up a pair of aces.
SECOND SET HIGHLIGHTS:
The Crimson Storm jumped out to an early 10-4 lead and never let the Tigers pull closer than four points the remainder of the set. Southern Nazarene committed only two attack errors, after committing seven in the opening set. Matthews hit .556 in the set with six kills against only one error. Pickett matched her first-set output with five additional kills.
THIRD SET HIGHLIGHTS:
For the second-straight set, Southern Nazarene never trailed as the Crimson Storm opened up to an early 9-2 advantage and led by as many as 12 points in the set. Their defense limited the Tigers to just a .043 attack percentage. Bell tallied 12 of the Storm’s 28 digs in the set. Matthews and Courtney Bowie contributed four kills each and Berlin dished out 12 assists.
FOURTH SET HIGHLIGHTS:
Southern Nazarene scored nine of 11 points to turn an early 7-3 deficit into a 12-9 advantage it would not relinquish in closing out the match. Benner, who had four kills in the opening three sets, registered six in the final set to lead the offense. Berlin dished out 15 assists and Bell added eight digs. For Ouachita, Bullard delivered six kills without an error.
NOTABLE:
- * Southern Nazarene becomes just the second team outside of Harding and Arkansas Tech to advance to consecutive GAC Championship semifinals (Southern Arkansas: 2011, 2012)
- * Abbey Bell set the GAC Championship single-match record for digs with 34, breaking her own record of 32 set in the 2014 title match against Arkansas Tech
- * Southern Nazarene improves to 5-0 against Ouachita since joining the GAC in 2012
- * Teams losing the first set improve to 5-25 all-time at the GAC Championships, but 2-0 at the 2015 Championships (Southwestern Oklahoma defeated Northwestern Oklahoma State in the first quarterfinal)
- * Higher seeded teams have won the last 14 GAC Volleyball Championship quarterfinal matches – the last win by a lower seeded came in 2011 when No. 5 East Central defeated No. 4 Ouachita in four sets)
WHAT’S NEXT:
Southern Nazarene will face the Southwestern Oklahoma State at 3:30 p.m. on Friday.