HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Southern Nazarene earned it second trip to the title match of the Great American Conference Volleyball Championships – Presented by Subway, in the last three seasons by sweeping co-regular-season champion Ouachita on Friday from the Bank of the Ozarks Arena. The Crimson Storm defense locked down the Tiger offense, holding them to their second-fewest kills and second-lowest attack percentage of the season.
| GAC Volleyball Championships – Presented by Subway: Semifinal #1 |
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| #3 Southern Nazarene (19-10) |
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| #2 Ouachita (23-7) |
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OFFENSIVE LEADERS:
SNU – Courtney Bowie: 14 kills, .333 attack percentage
Elyse Berlin: 36 assists
Abbey Bell: five aces
OUA – Tabatha Huckabee: 13 kills, .278 attack percentage
Kori Bullard: nine kills
Stormi Leonard: 29 assists
DEFENSIVE LEADERS:
SNU – Abbey Bell: 19 digs
Lexie Matthews: five blocks
Kaitlyn Vought: 14 digs, three blocks
OUA – Ashley Wake: 17 digs
Jayme Shell: 17 digs, one block
Caitlin Cantrell: five blocks
FIRST SET HIGHLIGHTS:
Southern Nazarene grabbed an early 11-3 lead only to see Ouachita win 14 of the next 18 points to hold a 17-15 advantage. Still trailing 19-18, the Crimson Storm closed out the set by claiming seven of the final nine points. Bell totaled five aces in the set including four during her first service rotation. Benner tallied six kills and accounted for 7.0 points. Bullard led the Tigers in the set with four kills.
SECOND SET HIGHLIGHTS:
The Crimson Storm took a two-set advantage by winning a set that never saw either team lead by more than three points. Down 11-8, SNU rattled off five straight points to take the lead for good. After hitting .081 in the opening set, the Crimson Storm hit .260 in the second set. Vought provided four points on three kills and an ace; Berlin collected 13 assists. Huckabee paced the Tigers with five kills and Cantrell hit .500.
THIRD SET HIGHLIGHTS:
After a quiet two sets in which she had amassed just four kills, Bowie carried the Crimson Storm offense in the final set as racked up 10 kills, accounted for 11.5 points and hit. 571. The SNU defense turned it their best effort of the match, tallying 5.5 team blocks and limiting the Ouachita offense to just a .064 attack percentage. After collecting nine digs in the opening two sets, Bell notched 10 in the set to finish with a match-leading 19.
NOTABLE:
- Southern Nazarene: trip appearance in the GAC Championship final (lost in 2014 to Arkansas Tech)
- SNU: second-straight No. 3 seed to advance to GAC Championship final (SWOSU won 2015 title as No. 3 seed)
- SNU: improved to 6-1 against Ouachita as a GAC member
- Berlin: 15th double-double of the season – 36 assists, 10 digs
- Bowie: hit. 333 in the win; hit only .067 in regular-season meeting vs Ouachita (SNU lost in four sets)
- Second-straight GAC Volleyball Championship that will not feature either of the top two seeds in the final; from 2011-2014 the top two seeds played for the title all for years
- Ouachita: hit only .120 with only 31 kills, both rank as the second-lowest marks of the season.
WHAT’S NEXT:
Southern Nazarene will face Southeastern Oklahoma State at 2 p.m. on Saturday.