By OAKLEE FIELDER
Lady Ranger Kaylah Thomas jumps to hit a kill against Panhandle State Aggies on Tuesday.
The Lady Rangers started and ended a losing streak over the break after losing four games and turning it around by winning two at home.
After losing to Ouachita Baptist University on Oct 2, the Lady Rangers lost four more games to have a losing streak of five. After narrowly losing to Southern Arkansas, Northwestern defeated the University of Arkansas at Monticello at home 3-0. On Tuesday, the winning continued after sweeping another team, Oklahoma Panhandle State University, to give the Lady Rangers momentum into their game against East Central University in Ada.
NWOSU 0-3 HAR
Harding started strong with a large difference between the two teams at the end of the first set. The Bisons took the set 25-10. Harding had an early lead and eventually ran away after a six-point run to make it 12-5. The two teams battled hard, but Harding had the advantage after their run, and took the set by 15.
The second set started tight, as the two teams kept each other within arm’s reach. Midway through the set, only one point separated the two teams as they continued to battle hard. A 6-2 run from the Bisons gave them a lead of 20-16. The Lady Rangers battled back as they crawled back up to where the Bisons were on the scoreboard to make it a one-point game once again, 22-21 with Harding up. Unfortunately, the Bisons went on another run and scored three straight, giving them the set just barely, 25-21.
Set three went similar to the way the first set did. The teams were tight to start, trading points back and forth. The Lady Rangers scored three straight to give them the lead by one, 7-6. Then, the Bisons went on a 11-3 run to flex on Northwestern, giving them the lead by seven, 17-10. Northwestern was unable to fight back after that long run from Harding, and the Bisons took the set 25-17 and the match 3-0.
NWOSU 1-3 ATU
Set one started with Northwestern getting an early lead of 5-2 over Arkansas Tech. The Golden Suns fought back and took the lead later into the set, 11-9. The set remained close until ATU went on a four-point run to take the lead by four. Then, Northwestern scored three to make it a one-point game. Arkansas Tech responded with five straight to make it 24-18. The Lady Rangers were unable to come back from that, and lost the first set 25-19.
NWOSU came out in the second set stronger. They took an early lead of 7-4 to set the tone. ATU fought back, clawing up to the Lady Rangers and made it a one-point set, 11-10. Small runs from Northwestern allowed them to inch away from the Golden Suns and the Lady Rangers took the set 25-18.
The Lady Rangers’ momentum continued over into the third set as they started it off 6-1. The Golden Suns hit hard as they swept the rug out from NWOSU’s feet and took the lead 13-9. The Lady Rangers came back and made it a close game all the way until the end. ATU just barely took the third set, 25-23.
In set four, the Golden Suns took advantage and built an early small lead of three, 5-2. Northwestern battled and cut the lead down to one, 6-5. Just like the set before, the Golden Suns caught NWOSU off guard, and went on a long run to take the lead 16-8. The Lady Rangers battled hard, but were unable to find a way to get back to the top and ATU took the fourth set 25-15 to lock down the win.
PIT 3-0 NWOSU
The Lady Rangers was stuck in a hole in the first set after letting the Gorillas get away from them, 7-1. Slowly, the Lady Rangers climbed up to the Gorillas but not too close as they were only able to get within four. The Gorillas went on a run to make it 18-10, but the Lady Rangers repeated their previous maneuver to make it a four-point set, 18-14. As the teams battled, Northwestern got within three, but it wasn’t enough and the Gorillas took set one by five, 25-20.
Set two started better for the Lady Rangers as they took an early lead of 3-1. The Gorillas turned around and gave it to the Lady Rangers. Northwestern only scored one point at a time and had no runs the rest of the set. Pittsburg State went on run after run to take set two 25-11.
Set three was a bit better for the Lady Rangers, scoring more that the previous set. The Lady Rangers were able to score a few runs, but none of them went more than three points. The Gorillas dominated just like the previous set, as they took the win 25-13.
SAU 3-2 NWOSU
Set one started tight, as the two teams never got more than two points away from each other. It wasn’t until the game was tied at 19 that a team took the lead with room between to allow a mistake. The Lady Rangers scored four to make it 23-19, all but securing the set win. The two teams traded points and the Lady Rangers won set one 25-21.
Set two between the Muleriders and Lady Rangers started differently than the prior set. The Lady Rangers took the lead 4-1 and the lead stayed three points as the Lady Rangers were 7-4 over Southern Arkansas. The Muleriders found what they were missing, and took the lead 11-8 over the Lady rangers. Eventually, Northwestern caught back up and tied it at 18. SAU scored three to make it 21-18, and sealed the set win by scoring four against NWOSU’s three to make it 25-21.
Set three was competitive all the way until the end as the two teams traded points back and forth. Slowly, Northwestern earned a lead of 10-6. The momentum kept rolling for NWOSU as they kept the lead 17-12. Southern Arkansas found what they needed again and made it a tight game again, 23-20. SAU scored three to tie it at 23, and now the Lady Rangers needed to lock in. That they did, Northwestern took the set 26-24, just edging out Southern Arkansas making the match 2-1 for NWOSU.
Set four was a Mulerider set, as they took the lead early. Northwestern tied it at six, but SAU continued to find advantages and had the lead again, 13-10. The two teams continued to fight back and forth in a tug-of-war, but the Muleriders did it again and found that advantage they needed. With the pressure on as they were on the edge of losing the match, the Muleriders won the fourth set to force a final set five.
Set five only goes to 15, much less and much shorter than the previous 25-point sets before. The Muleriders took their previous momentum and applied it to set five. Southern Arkansas started with a lead of 6-4 before making it 11-6. The Lady Rangers were just barely unable to close the gap, and the Muleriders took set five 15-9 to win the match.
AUM 0-3 NWOSU
The Lady Rangers ended their losing by tearing apart the Cotton Blossoms. The Lady Rangers came out with a band and took an early 7-0 lead over Monticello. The Lady Rangers continued that momentum into an 11-3 lead. Northwestern just kept rolling, as they got to a lead of 21-14. Eventually Northwestern shut down set one with a 25-17 win.
Set two was tighter as the teams traded points up until Northwestern took a 15-13 lead. Monticello nosed ahead by three with a lead of 20-17, but Northwestern tied it up again at 20. The Lady Rangers’ momentum of tying it from three back kept rolling as they took the set win 25-22, giving Northwestern two of the three sets needed to win.
The Lady Rangers didn’t stop in the second set, as they steamrolled into set three. Northwestern earned a lead of 11-3. Their lead shrank a bit as they neared the end of the set to 20-13, but they had the win in the bag. Northwestern won the final set 25-17 and the match 3-0, sweeping the conference rival.
PSU 0-3 NWOSU
Set one against the Panhandle State University Aggies started off tight as PSU had a lead of just one, 7-6. Northwestern used momentum to launch themselves to the lead, 10-8. The Lady Rangers continued on and kept the lead all the way until the end of the set with a win of 25-17 over the Aggies.
Set two started better for Northwestern, as they took an early 6-1 lead over Panhandle State. The Northwestern momentum continued as they eventually had a lead of 20-12. The Aggies had nothing left in their tank in the second set and conceded to the Lady Rangers with a final score of 25-15.
Set three was much tighter as the teams found themselves with a score of 8-6. Northwestern nudged ahead to keep their lead and extended it to five, 15-10. The Aggies fought back and made it tight heading into the final stages of the set, 16-14. Eventually, Panhandle State tied it 21-21. Northwestern was able to just win set three by two, 25-23, winning the match.
The next games on the schedule for the Lady Rangers will be against East Central University in Ada on Thursday, and Southeastern Oklahoma State on Tuesday in Durant.