HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Southeastern Oklahoma State continued its run at the 2016 Great American Conference Volleyball Championships – Presented by Subway, by ending Southwestern Oklahoma State’s reign as tournament champions with a four-set in Friday’s second semifinal from the Bank of the Ozarks Arena.
| GAC Volleyball Championships – Presented by Subway: Semifinal #2 |
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| #8 Southeastern Oklahoma State (15-16) |
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| #5 Southwestern Oklahoma State (14-17) |
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DEFENSIVE LEADERS:
SE – Arianna Baker: 17 kills, .441 attack percentage
Julia Benford: 16 kills, .452 attack percentage
Alissa Benson: 48 assists
SWOSU – Carly Zak: 18 kills, 20.0 points
Kelsi Schmidtberger: 10 kills, .296 attack percentage
Kayla Hebert: 41 assists
DEFENSIVE LEADERS:
SE – Caitlin Cosby: 27 digs
Karine Cavalcante: 15 digs
Benson: 17 digs, two blocks
SWOSU – Kaitlyn Dillon: 16 digs
Hebert: 14 digs, block
Zak: nine digs, four blocks
FIRST SET HIGHLIGHTS
The Bulldogs claimed an opening set that saw 10 ties and six lead changes. Zak led the SWOSU attack as she totaled seven kills and hit .400 in the set. Zak and Schmidtberger helped the Bulldogs post a .278 attack percentage in the set as they hit a combined .429. Hebert added 10 assists, four digs and a pair of aces. Southeastern collected 17 kills in the set, led by Benford’s five kills. Abby Jameson notched four kills and six digs.
SECOND SET HIGHLIGHTS
Southeastern opened the second set strong by scoring seven of the first nine points. The Savage Storm maintained a six- point lead at 14-8 before the Bulldogs went on a 13-6 burst to take its first lead of the set. Trailing 23-22, Southeastern’s Baker scored kills on consecutive rallies to put the Savage Storm back in front. Kills from Jameson and Benford closed out the set. Baker hit .455 in the set with five kills. Jameson also registered five kills.
THIRD SET HIGHLIGHTS
The Savage Storm took the lead in the match after winning a third set in which they never trailed. The defense stifled the Bulldog offense as SWOSU hit only .039 and committed eight errors. Conversely, the Savage Storm offense hit .229. Baker and Benford combined to account for 9.0 points. Cosby and Benson collected 16 of the team’s 28 digs in the set.
FOURTH SET HIGHLIGHTS
Southeastern completed the victory by winning of the match’s final 12 points, turning a 16-16 tie into a 25-19 set victory. Four different players picked up a kill during this finishing run. Baker and Benford combined for eight kills and they hit .500 during the set. After totaling four aces over the first three sets, Southeastern served up four aces in the set.
NOTABLE:
- Southeastern Oklahoma State: Advances to first GAC Volleyball Championship game
- SE: Lowest seed to ever advance to the title game of the GAC Volleyball Championships
- SE: Lowest seeded team to advance to conference title game in Division II in 2016
- SE: third team at 2016 GAC Championships to win match after losing first set; teams winning first set are just 6-7 when winning first set since the start of the 2015 GAC Championships; from 2011-14 teams were 25-3 when winning the first set
- Baker: 17 kills; totaled 14 kills in two matches against SWOSU during the regular season
- Benford: hit .395 in three contests against SWOSU this season
WHAT’S NEXT:
Southeastern Oklahoma State will face Southern Nazarene at 2 p.m. on Saturday.
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