HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Oklahoma Baptist won its first Great American Conference Volleyball Championship match as it overcame an early deficit to defeat Ouachita in four sets on Thursday from Bank of the Ozarks Arena. Cadyn Laing and Mikayla Watson combined for 35 kills.
| GAC Volleyball Championships: Quarterfinal #1 |
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| #6 Ouachita (19-12) |
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| #3 Oklahoma Baptist (18-14) |
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OFFENSIVE LEADERS:
OUA – Kori Bullard: 15 kills
Adrianna Nolley: 12 kills, .310 attack percentage
Stormi Leonard: 47 assists
OKB – Cadyn Laing: 18 kills, .245 attack percentage
Mikayla Watson: 17 kills, .209 attack percentage
Hayden Blair: 46 assists
DEFENSIVE LEADERS:
OUA – Nikki Clay: 19 digs
Nolly: six blocks
Bullard: five blocks
OKB – Kelsi Chavez: 27 digs
Nicole Fleitman: nine blocks
Sophia Couto: seven blocks
FIRST SET HIGHLIGHTS:
The Tigers took the opening set, 25-17 as they hit .242 and limited the Lady Bison to a .108 attack percentage. Anna Lee Drennan and Katie Camp combined for eight kills and they hit .467. Leonard dished out 11 assists. With the set tied at 13, Ouachita scored six consecutive points and never let Oklahoma Baptist pull any closer than to five. Julianna Mack added a pair of service aces.
SECOND SET HIGHLIGHTS:
The Lady Bison pulled even as they won the second set, 27-25. After falling behind 5-1, the Lady Bison drew even at 11-11.
For the remainder of the set, neither side held a lead greater than three points. Watson tallied six of their 15 kills in the set while Laing and Malia Leatherland each collected three. Oklahoma Baptist added four service aces after not recording a single ace in the opening set. The Tigers outhit the Lady Bison, .294 to .237.
THIRD SET HIGHLIGHTS:
Oklahoma Baptist took its first lead of the match as it took the third set, 25-22, by rallying from an 18-10 deficit. Watson and Laing continued to the lead the offense as they combined for 10 of the 15 kills. Blair assisted on 14 of the kills. Defensively, Chavez registered 11 digs and totaling six in the first two sets combined.
FOURTH SET HIGHLIGHTS:
The Lady Bison closed out the match by producing their best attack percentage of the contest, .289, in a 25-21 win. Down 12-9, they scored six straight points to take a lead they would not relinquish. Laing, Watson and Leatherland accounted for all but one of the 14 kills in the set and they combined to hit .393. Chavez again accumulated double-digit digs with 10 and the team blocked seven Ouachita attempts. Bullard notched six kills in the set.
NOTABLE:
- The Lady Bison set a GAC Championships record with 16 team blocks
- Fleitman set the record for blocks in a four-set GAC Championship match with nine
- No. 3 seeds improve to 6-1 in the quarterfinals of the GAC Championships
WHAT’S NEXT:
Oklahoma Baptist will face Harding at 3:30 p.m. on Friday.