HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – The Southwestern Oklahoma State Bulldogs leaned on the 24-kill performance from First-Team All-Great American Conference performer Carly Zak to defeat Northwestern Oklahoma State in four sets in the opening quarterfinal match of the 2015 GAC Volleyball Championships – Presented by Subway on Thursday at the Bank of the Ozarks Arena. The Bulldogs lost the first set, but won the final three sets to advance to the semifinals for the first time since 2012.
GAC Volleyball Championships -
Presented by Subway: Quarterfinal #1 |
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| #6 Northwestern Oklahoma State (11-18) |
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21 |
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| #3 Southwestern Oklahoma State (20-11) |
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25 |
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| OFFENSIVE LEADERS: |
| Northwestern Oklahoma State: |
Natalie Fahey: 15 kills, .323 attack pct, 5 service aces, 22.0 points scored |
| Nora To’omalatai: 11 kills, 12.5 points scored |
| Ashanti Banks: 10 kills, 11.5 points, .304 attack percentage |
| Southwestern Oklahoma State: |
Carly Zak: 24 kills, .321 attack percentage, 2 service aces, 29.0 points scored |
| Kayla Hebert: 49 assists |
| Paige Holt: 10 kills, .588 attack percentage |
| DEFENSIVE LEADERS: |
| Northwestern Oklahoma State: |
Asia Pipkin: 14 digs |
| To’omalatai, Kaydee Yukawa, Korina Lillard: 10 digs |
| Natalie Fahey: 4 blocks |
| Southwestern Oklahoma State: |
Kelsi Schmidtberger: 8 blocks |
| Hebert: 25 digs |
| Zak: 13 digs, 6 blocks |
FIRST SET HIGHLIGHTS:
Northwestern Oklahoma State totaled 21 kills and hit .415 in taking the opening set. The Rangers jumped out to a 5-1 lead and never trailed. Natalie Fahey and Asia Pipkin each registered five kills. Nora To’omalatai collected five digs. For the Bulldogs, Carly Zak notched five kills and four digs. Kayla Hebert dished out 14 assists.
SECOND SET HIGHLIGHTS:
Southwestern Oklahoma State rallied back from a 7-1 deficit and scored seven of the last eight points in the set to square the match. The Bulldogs held the Rangers to a .075 attack percentage. SWOSU collected five blocks in the set. Zak added six more kills. Fahey led the Rangers with seven kills and Pipkin added six digs. The set featured six ties and three lead changes.
THIRD SET HIGHLIGHTS:
Southwestern Oklahoma State scored 19 of the final 28 points to take the set. The Bulldogs hit .324 and held the Rangers to an .075 percentage for the second-straight set. Zak continued her strong effort as she hit. 385 in the set with six kills and added two service aces. Hebert totaled 13 assists and 10 digs in the set. To’omalatai and Ashanti Banks led Northwestern Oklahoma State with three kills apiece.
FOURTH SET HIGHLIGHTS:
The Bulldogs closed out the Rangers as Zak tallied seven kills and five digs. Hebert added seven digs. Both finished with double-doubles. Paige Holt contributed three kills. To’omalatai tallied four kills and Fahey added three service aces. The fourth featured five ties and four lead changes, the Bulldogs scored the victory by scoring five of the final six points.
NOTABLE:
- * Southwestern Oklahoma State advances to the semifinals of the GAC Championships for the first time since 2012
- * No. 3 seeds improve to 4-1 in the quarterfinal round
- * SWOSU reached the 20-win mark for the first time in program history
- * The Bulldogs became the first team to win a GAC Championship match after dropping the first set since Harding came back to defeat Arkansas Tech in the 2012 title game
- * Teams losing the first set improve to 4-25 all-time at the GAC Championships
- * Zak tied the GAC Championship record for kills in a match (tying HU’s Mollie Arnold vs Ouachita in 2013 semifinals)
- * Schmidtberger tied the record for blocks in a match (tying Southern Nazarene’s Taylor Jacobs in the 2014 title match)
- * Fahey set the GAC Championship record for service aces in a four set match
WHAT’S NEXT:
Southwestern Oklahoma State will face the Southern Nazarene-Ouachita winner at 3:30 p.m. on Friday