by Ashley Watts, Sports Editor
Northwestern Oklahoma State University made history for NWOSU as they made it past the first round of the Great American Conference volleyball tournament.
NWOSU landed the second seed for the tournament and played No. 7 seed Ouachita Baptist in the first game. They won the game 3-1 and moved onto the next round against Harding University.
There were 30 different tied scores and 14 lead changes throughout the match with the largest battle taking place in the fourth set. This win marked the first post-season win in program history.
The Tigers challenged the Rangers high seed in the first match. With the score tied at 11-11 the Tigers took the momentum. Despite a seven-kill effort from Kaydee Honeycutt, the Black-and-Red were unable to hold on and dropped the first set 20-25.
Northwestern jumped to an early lead in the second set and dominated the first half 11-7. Ouachita started to creep back. Back-to-back kills from Honeycutt secured the set two win 25-22.
The third set was dominated by the Black-and-Red with only one tied score and no lead changes through the entire match. The Rangers quickly jumped to a 13-9 lead; however, Ouachita Baptist tied the match 14-14.
Northwestern attackers came to life to finish the match as kills from Honeycutt, Jennifer Eubanks, and a final slam from Kiauna Clark snatched the set 25-22.
The fourth set was a nail-biter with 15 different tied scores, and five lead changes. In the final points of the match the Rangers had help from all parts of the court with kills coming from Claire Hodges, Kate Deterding, Eubanks and Honeycutt. A final attack error from the Tigers gave Northwestern the final point they needed to take the set and match 25-22.
The Lady Rangers then played Harding in the next round of the tournament. This game ended in a heartbreaker for the Rangers as they lost 2-3 to Harding and was eliminated from the tournament. Every match was a gritty battle with 21 different tied scores and 11 different lead changes.
Clark finished her senior year with a bang as she earned 17 kills throughout the. She finished the season incredibly close to the single season hit record with a total tally of 373 kills on her senior year. Eubanks finished her senior season just as hot as she finished with the second-best career number of kills at 1,096.
Honeycutt also earned double digits with 10 kills and led the team with 29 digs. Kaitlyn Robinson led the team with 39 assists of the team’s 44 on the night. In the fourth set of the match.
It was a back and forth battle early through the set as neither team could not seem to pull away for more than two points at a time. Once Harding pulled to a 17-19 lead it was all history from there. The Rangers came back screaming as they went on an eight to one run for the last points of the set. The Black-and-Red snatched the first set 25-20.
Once Northwestern had the lead, they never let go Clark had four kills all to herself in the second set, and a final kill from Honeycutt secured the set win 25-21.
The Bisons came rallying back in the beginning of the third set and took advantage of some uncommon Ranger miscues. The Rangers lost with a score of 13-25.
The fourth set had the Bisons riding the momentum in as they jumped to an early lead. They took the loss 16-25 and headed into the tiebreaker set.
The fifth set was a gritty one to begin with. The Bisons were able to take the lead early. A final kill secured the win for Harding 10-15, and ended the Ranger’s spectacular season.
The Rangers finished their season with an astounding record of 23-11 and ended 12-4 in conference play.
They were the programs second 20+ win record, besting the 20 wins from 2017 and the first team in school history to earn a 10+ conference record since joining the GAC.