ALVA, Okla. – The Rangers defeated the Savage Storm 3-2 (25-16, 20-25, 26-24, 14-25, 16-14) to advance to the quarterfinals of the Great American Conference Championship Tournament.
Northwestern Volleyball will now advance to the next round of the GAC Championship Tournament, the Rangers are set to face-off against second-seeded Southwestern Oklahoma State on April 8. The Thursday night contest will take place at 6 p.m. inside the Pioneer Cellular Event Center in Weatherford.
"I will take zero credit for this win." Head Coach Fred Aubuchon explained.
"The girls hung in there and never quit." Aubuchon added.
"I'm so proud of what they did tonight and I'm just as excited to know that baseball and softball both won as well."
"Ride Rangers Ride!" Aubuchon exclaimed.
Senior Kate Deterding led Northwestern with an impressive 20 kills, 21 digs, 20.5 points, one block and one assist. Deterding finished hitting .189 with a 20-6-74 clip.
Kaydee Honeycutt recorded 13 kills, three digs and one block. Honeycutt scored a 13-7-39 hitting clip and a .154 attack percentage.
Tarra Parks earned nine kills, one service ace and 19 digs.
Madison Dehlinger finished with six kills, two blocks and three digs.
Avery Osburg assisted the Rangers 42 times and racked up six digs, two blocks and two kills.
Maggie Peterson chipped in seven digs and a service ace.
Once again, Sydnee Miller showed out defensively. Miller led the Red-and-Black with 31 digs, one assist and one service ace.
Ravyn Burns racked up six blocks, two kills and four digs.
Courtney Russell finished with two kills, one block and one dig.
Abby Davis recorded six assists, one service ace and one dig.
SET 1: (25-16, NWOSU)
The Savage Storm fired first on the scoreboard, but Northwestern was able to take the first set 25-16 after forcing Southeastern to give up 10 errors, their most in a set on the night. The Rangers finished hitting .242 (10-2-33), while SOSU hit .024 off of an 11-10-41 clip. Deterding led the Red-and-Black with four kills and Parks chipped in three. Dehlinger, Honeycutt and Osburg all added one kill apiece.
SET 2: (20-25, SE)
NWOSU gave up the second set 20-25 after Southeastern was able to record a 16-4-40 clip and a 7-0 scoring run. Aleksandra Rodic led the Savage Storm with seven kills. Deterding and Honeycutt each finished the set with four kills apiece. The Rangers finished hitting 14-5-44 (.205).
SET 3: (26-24, NWOSU)
The Rangers were able to snag their second set win after taking Southeastern into extra points in the third set. Northwestern outscored the Savage Storm 26-24, as well as outhit them. SOSU posted a .182 attack percentage with a 17-7-55 clip while the Red-and-Black recorded a 15-3-54 clip for a .222 hitting percentage. The Savage Storm went on a 5-0 scoring run to begin the set, but NWOSU was able to fire back a 6-0 scoring run to take the lead. Deterding led the set victory with six kills, Honeycutt earned four and Dehlinger added three.
SET 4: (14-25, SE)
Southeastern answered back in the fourth set to pick up their second set win of the night, forcing the Rangers to go into a fifth and final set for the first round of the GAC Championship Tournament. SOSU finished hitting 18-3-44, their best clip of the night (.341). The Rangers ended the set with six errors, their highest in a set for the contest. Northwestern only recorded six kills in the set, Deterding, Honeycutt and Parks each finished with two kills apiece. Southeastern secured the set victory after scoring seven straight points to defeat the Red-and-Black.
SET 5: (16-14, NWOSU)
The score was 11-4, Southeastern was only four points shy of upsetting the Rangers to advance to the next round of the tournament until Northwestern was able to chip in six points to shift the momentum of the fifth set in the Rangers favor. The scoreboard read 14-10 and the Savage Storm were one point shy of securing a win until the Red-and-Black went on a 6-0 scoring run to survive a thrilling final set. NWOSU defeated SOSU 16-14 (3-2). The Rangers finished the set hitting 9-4-40 (.125). Deterding led Northwestern to victory with four kills. Honeycutt and Russell each recorded two kills, and Parks chipped in one.
Rodic led Southeastern with 21 kills, 19 digs and one block. She finished hitting 21-4-67 and posted a .254 attack percentage.
Jocelyn Grewing earned 13 kills, two digs and a block.
Caroline Griffith recorded 12 kills, five blocks, five digs and an assist.
Grace Shehadeh led defensively with 37 digs. She also chipped in four assists.
Malaysia Burns finished with four digs, 11 kills and one block.
Ruthie Forson snagged 52 assists, 13 digs, eight kills, four blocks and one service ace.
SE Recap