ADA – The East Central University volleyball team fell to Oklahoma Baptist, 3-2 (21-25, 25-20, 25-19, 25-23, 11-15) in Great American Conference action at the Kerr Activities Center.

The Tigers (7-20, 2-10 GAC) were led by senior Madeline Mayer, with 18 kills, a .220 (18k-5e-59ta) hitting percentage and eight blocks (1-7).  Junior Abbey Wehrman led the defense with 32 digs, while senior Lily Porsa added 27 and senior Diana Etienne 18.

The opening set was a tight battle, with 12 tie scores and five lead changes.  The final tie came at 19-all before the Bison (14-11, 9-3 GAC) went on a 4-0 run to take the lead.  The advantage was all they needed as they pushed through for the 25-21 win.

In the second set the teams traded the first 12 serves before OBU went on a 5-0 run to take the lead.  The Bison held on to the advantage until late in the set when the Tigers battled back for an 18-all tie.  However, OBU went on a 3-0 run to take the lead for good and fought through to a 25-20 win.

The Bison jumped out to an early 7-3 lead in set three, but ECU fought back to tie the set at nine.  The teams traded the next 10 serves for a 14-all tie.  That is when the Tigers made a push with a 3-0 run to take the 17-14 lead.  The teams kept things close and pulled within one at 20-19.  However, this time ECU went on a 5-0 run to claim the 25-19 win.

In set four the Tigers jumped out to an early 9-3 advantage.  The Bison used several small runs to tie the set at 22.  ECU took the next two points for the advantage and held on for the 25-23 win.

Set five saw OBU push out to an 8-3 lead.  ECU fought back with a 5-2 run to cut the deficit to two (10-8).  The teams traded the next four serves, but the Bison used a 2-0 run to push their lead back to four (14-10) and pushed through for the 15-11 win.

The Tigers will now hit the road for three of the last four matches of the 2017 season.  The first stop will be Tuesday, Oct. 31 at Southern Nazarene (7 p.m.) in Bethany, Okla.