By OAKLEE FIELDER
Katie Wadas prepares to hit the ball as Jadyn Padilla and Celia Mbaya prepare to support.
The Lady Rangers are down two games after losing to Southwestern Oklahoma State and Newman University, both games ending in a 3-1 score.
Northwestern lost to the conference rivals on Thursday night in Percefull Fieldhouse in a highly anticipated game. The Bulldogs came out early in the first set, taking a 4-0 lead to start. The Lady Rangers were able to cut that lead down to two after slowly reeling them in. Then, Northwestern tied it at 10 with a close finish in sight. Unfortunately, that close finish was not going to happen in set one, as the Bulldogs won 25-15.
Set two went a lot better for the Lady Rangers. After giving up the first point, they scored six-straight points to give them the lead 6-1. The Bulldogs scored two to respond to the six straight, but the Lady Rangers didn’t fall too far. They kept a solid lead over the Bulldogs throughout the second set. By the end of the set, the Lady Rangers took the win 25-17, tying the game 1-1.
Southwestern took the final two sets and won the game 3-1 over the Lady Rangers. Ivanny Blackwood had the most kills against the Bulldogs with 15. Blackwood also had one ace and three blocks. Celia Mbaya had 10 digs, two aces and seven kills. Katie Wadas had 18 assists. Ryann Eastes had 11 assists and seven digs.
After their loss to Southwestern, the Lady Rangers headed north to face the Newman University Jets in Wichita, Kansas. The Newman Jets are apart of the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association. The MIAA has teams in Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, Arkansas and one team in Nebraska. The entirety of Northwestern Athletics has faced many of these teams, including Arkansas-Fort Smith, Central Missouri, University of Central Oklahoma, Fort Hays, Missouri Southern, Nebraska Kearney, Newman, Rogers State and Washburn to name a few.
The meeting with the Newman Jets did not go in the Lady Rangers’ favor. The Jets took down Northwestern 3-1 in a match almost identical to the one against SWOSU.
Set one started close, with the two teams trading blows and battling to keep the lead. Tess de Zanet used her skills to earn points for the Lady Rangers, helping keep the Jets within touching distance. Slowly, the Jets pulled away from the Lady Rangers, taking the first set by just five points, 25-20.
In set two, the Lady Rangers started strong. They took the lead, and held it close, but only by a few points. Northwestern would find times to go on small runs, never letting the Jets score more than two points in a row. With an ace from Jadyn Padilla and their inching away, they won set two 25-18.
Set three was an even stronger start from Northwestern. In short time, they had a five-point lead 9-4. After time went on, their lead shrunk one point with the score 21-17. Then, the Jets went on a six-point run to take the lead by two, 23-21. The Lady Rangers fought back, taking the lead again, but by one point, 25-24. The teams must win a set by two points, so the pressure was on the Lady Rangers to score another. Two points from the Jets gave them the lead by one. A bad set from Newman tied it at 26-26. Then, Newman scored two points and won set three, 28-26.
The final set was like the others. The two teams battled and traded the lead back and forth. Eventually, the Jets pulled out and took a lead with a sizeable gap to keep it. The Lady Rangers were unable to reel them in by the time Newman reached 25, and the Jets took the win 3-1.
De Zanet had 20 kills against the Jets. She also had an ace and two blocks. Blackwood had 16 kills and two blocks. Eastes had 35 assists and five blocks. Mbaya had 11 digs and one assist.
The losses drop the Lady Rangers’ record down to 7-11. They sit 9th in the Great American Conference standings, above East Central University and below Southeastern Oklahoma State, who has one more conference win and one less loss.
Next on the schedule will be Henderson State on Thursday and Ouachita Baptist on Friday nights. Both games are home and the Lady Rangers look to end their 5-game losing streak against one of the teams from Arkadelphia, Arkansas.