By KAROLINA JURESIUTE
Senior Reporter
Northwestern Lady Rangers won two games at the Percefull Fieldhouse on Oct. 10 and 11 against Arkansas Monticello and Southern Arkansas. They then lost two games on the road against Arkansas Tech and Harding, Oct. 17 and 18.
NWOSU 3, Monticello 2
The game against Monticello Cotton Blossoms on Oct. 10 was a thriller. Northwestern Rangers struck first with a kill on the first set. The set remained being competitive and close but the Northwestern Rangers could not finish it and lost by four points, 21-25.
The second set was also a point-to-point game until the Cotton Blossoms scored seven points in a row to get in front of the scoreboard. Lady Rangers tried to come back and fight but fell short and lost the set by eight points, 17-25.
Third set was also a close one, but this time Lady Rangers were in the lead the whole set by at least one point. The Lady Rangers finally escaped from the Cotton Blossoms and won their first set of the game, 25-20.
Lady Rangers dominated the fourth set of the game by starting it with a 7-1. The Cotton Blossoms tried to fight back but could not keep up with the Lady Rangers, so Northwestern won their second set in a row.
The last and final set had everyone on the edge of their seats. Both teams gave their all and fought point to point. The lead changed multiple times and the game was extended until the Northwestern Lady Rangers scored their 20th point of the set and won by two points against the Cotton Blossoms, 20-18.
Erika Asencio Soriano finished the game with 18 kills and 15 digs, Ece Ozdemir with 12 kills and an ace, while Mariela Jimenez had 11 kills. Hennesys Lalane finished the game with two aces, three blocks, 19 assists and nine digs. Brianda Diaz had 19 digs and Mikayla White had 26 assists.
NWOSU 3, Southern Arkansas 1
The Lady Rangers had another game against Southern Arkansas the next day. The Lady Rangers started off the first set hot with a 5-0 lead. Then Lady Muleriders caught up and tied the score 6-6. Southern Arkansas scored a couple more points and was in a lead by three. Lady Rangers came back strong and won the set by 10 points, 25-15.
The second set of the game was also mostly in the Lady Rangers favor, they won the set by eight points, 25-17.
The third set was unlucky for Northwestern as they were trailing since the beginning of the set.
The Lady Rangers tried to come back into it scoring seven points in a row and decreasing their lead by two but did not succeed as the Lady Muleriders scored four points in a row and extended the lead to six points. The Lady Rangers had to give this set up.
The fourth and final set was a pretty close one. Northwestern Lady Rangers started off the set with 3-0 and at one point had a five-point lead. The Lady Muleriders decreased the lead and tied the game 11-11 and then later were in a lead by four. Eventually, Lady Rangers came back and finished the set with a win 25-23.
The Rangers were led by Mariela Jimenez with 14 kills and Erika Asencio Soriano with 12 kills and 17 digs. Mariela Jimenez also finished with six blocks, while Carmae Jones and Mikayla White with five. Mikayla White had a match high of 40 assists.
NWOSU 1, Arkansas Tech 3
The Rangers began by winning the first set 25-16 on Oct. 17. Then Arkansas took the next three sets—25-18, 25-16, 25-17— to win the match.
Still, the team grabbed 22 kills, 6 aces, 15 blocks, 26 assists and 22 digs.
NWOSU 1, Harding 3
The Rangers added more kills, assists and digs to their play on Oct. 18 but couldn’t pull off the win.
Harding won the first set 25-15, but NWOSU came back in the second with a 25-23 win. The Bisons won the next two sets, 25-17 and 25-12.
The Rangers are now 11-9 on the season, 5-4 in the GAC.
Season leaders
223 kills
457 assists
29 aces
281 digs
74 blocks