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By KAROLINA JURESIUTE, Senior Reporter

Northwestern’s Lady Rangers volleyball team played three home games in the past week. The Rangers lost 2-3 against Ouachita Baptist Tigers on Oct. 24, won against Henderson State 3-1 on Oct. 25, and lost again 2-3in a non-conference game with McPherson College on Tuesday.

Setter Mikayla White jumps for the ball during the Tuesday night game against McPherson College. The Bulldogs won the match, 3-2. Photo by Ingrid Maldonado

Rangers 2, Ouachita Baptist 3
The Lady Rangers started the first set of the match with a kill from Ivanny Blackwood and the Tigers with a service error, putting the Rangers in front on the scoreboard, 2-0. The Tigers answered with two straight points to tie the set 2-2. The Tigers and Lady Rangers fought back-to-back for points until 13-13. The Rangers then scored 11 straight points and ended up winning the first set of the match, 25-19.
The second set of the evening was in the Tigers’ favor as they started with a 9-3 lead. The Lady Rangers tried to fight back but the Tigers were just better that set. The Tigers won the set with a 12-point lead, 25-13.

Third set was back in the Lady Rangers’ favor as they started off the set with two kills from Macy Shreffler, which gave them the lead by two. The Tigers answered back with a kill and tied the game at 4-4. The Lady Rangers then scored seven points in a row, five of where were kills and two service errors by the Tigers. The game got closer when the Tigers scored five points in a row and was trailing just by one 19-18. Rangers were determined to win the set and finished it with a 25-23.

The fourth set of the game was not good for the Lady Rangers as the Tigers started off with a seven-point lead, 1-8. After that, the Rangers could not get to a smaller point deficit than four. The Tigers closed down the set 17-25 and now the match score was 2-2.

Last set of the match was close and had everyone sitting on the edge of their seats. The Tigers ended up winning the last set of the match, 13-15 and won the match of the night 3-2.
Erika Asencio Soriano finished the match with 17 kills and 10 digs, Carmae Jones and Blackwood with nine each and Jones with six blocks. Mikayla White had the high of the team of 39 assists and Brianda Diaz with 20 digs.

Rangers 3, Henderson State 1
The first set of the match was a slow start for the Lady Rangers as they only scored nine points. The Reddies dominated the first set and won it by 16 points, 25-9.

Second set was way better for the Lady Rangers as they were leading the whole set. Lady Rangers started off with a seven-point lead, 9-2. The Reddies got as close as being behind the Rangers by three points. The Lady Rangers ended up winning the set by five points, 25-20 and tying the match 1-1.

The Reddies started off the third set with a kill first, but Soriano answered them back right away and tied the score to 1-1. The set was intense and close as each team battled for the win. Every point was important, but the Lady Rangers did not back down and won the set by two, 27-25.

The Lady Rangers wanting to end the match in the fourth set started off with a 3-0 run. The Reddies answered right away and went to a 0-4 run to now be in a lead of one, 3-4. The set was also close, point-to-point until the tied score 10-10. After that the Lady Rangers finally pulled away and made the lead grow until they won the last set 25-17.

Soriano led The Lady Rangers with 19 kills, Ece Ozdemir with 13. White had a game high of 36 assists and Brianda Diaz finished the match with 17 digs.

Rangers 2, McPherson 3
The match started off by the Bulldogs hitting a kill on the Lady Rangers side of the court. Northwestern earned their first point of the evening from the Bulldogs service error. Both teams were fighting for the lead until the set was tied 18-18. The Bulldogs then scored six points in a row, and the Rangers lost their first set 19-25.

The second set of the match started with the Bulldogs striking first and getting a lead of three points, 4-1. The Lady Rangers trailed until they tied the set, 13-13. Northwestern tried to get back on their feet and and was close on doing so, but ended up losing the second set by three points, 22-25.

Even though The Bulldogs struck first with a 2-0 run, this was the set when everything turned around for the Lady Rangers. The Rangers then scored seven points in a row. In this set the Lady Rangers had the biggest lead of 10 and also won by 10 points 25-15.

The fourth and the longest set of the match started off by The Bulldogs going on a 3-0 run. It didn’t take long for The Lady Rangers to answer back and get back in the game. The Rangers were trailing for most of the set until Soriano had a kill and the Bulldogs three service errors in a row which tied the game at 24-24. The game went overtime until one of the teams won by two points. The Lady Rangers won set four by Ozge Yavuz’s kill and a Bulldogs error.

After winning the last set, the Rangers had hope to win, but they did not succeed. The Bulldogs were in the lead the whole fifth set. After scoring four points for the Rangers, the Bulldogs finished off the match by winning their third set with a score 15-11.

Soriano finished the game with 14 kills and 10 digs, while Ozdemir had 13 kills and 15 digs. Diaz had a game high of 30 digs. London Hilton finished the match with 22 assists.