By RANGERS ATHLETIC DEPARTMENT
Northwestern Oklahoma State women’s volleyball was defeated by Oklahoma Baptist by a final score of 3-1 on Saturday at the Percefull Fieldhouse.
Fresh off of a tough road loss at Southern Nazarene on Oct. 27, the Rangers came out in the first set with vengeance at home in Percefull Fieldhouse. Three out of the first four kills belonged to Natalie Fahey, who had a strong performance on the offensive attack for the Rangers as she hit .320 throughout the afternoon. The Rangers capitalized on the early onslaught of kills by Fahey and never allowed the Bison back into the set, winning 25-19. As a team, the Rangers only committed three attack errors throughout the set, while hitting .326 as a team. Fahey led the Rangers in kills with 13. Hannah Williams and Asia Pipkin both had 10 kills throughout the match. Vanessa Maile, Cassidy Hackett and Kiauna Clark all reached double digits in the assists category. Carley Greer led the defensive charge with 20 digs.
The Rangers rode the momentum they established in the first set and jumped out to an 8-4 lead in the second set of the ballgame. However, the Bison slowly cut into the Rangers lead and after a timeout at the 13-9 mark got on a roll and went up 21-18. The Rangers proved their resilience however by slowing down the Oklahoma Baptist attack and tying the match up at 21-21. Unfortunately for the home team, the Bison pulled out the points when it mattered, and took the set 27-25.
The third and fourth sets were tough ones as the Rangers couldn’t manage to find a way to slow down the Bison. In the third set the Bison opened up a 24-14 lead, but before allowing the final point in the set, Northwestern strung together four points to show they wouldn’t go down without a fight. The Bison exploded in the final set and finished off the Rangers by a score of 25-12.
Northwestern Oklahoma State Volleyball will return to action at 7 p.m. on Friday at home in Percefull Fieldhouse against conference opponent Southeastern Oklahoma State.