BETHANY, Okla. – The East Central University volleyball team improved to 2-2 in conference play this season following a four-set win (25-17, 20-25, 25-21, 25-23) over Southern Nazarene Tuesday night in Bethany, Oklahoma.
"The girls showed a lot of GRIT," Head Coach
Cheri Lindsay said. "It's always a battle with SNU so I'm proud of them for finding their rhythm and finishing."
The opening set saw both teams trading back and forth before ECU went on the first scoring run, extending their lead as high as 21-13. The Tigers never looked back and cruised through set one 25-17.
One set down, SNU came out on the attack early and grabbed a 6-2 lead. The Tigers clawed back to tie the score 9-9, but another scoring run by the Crimson Storm allowed them to go up 20-14. Despite ECU's effort to cut the lead within one, SNU closed out the set 25-20.
All tied at one, the Tigers came out strong in the third set before the Crimson Storm pushed back to take a 10-6 lead. ECU put together a scoring run and managed to tie it up 15-15. Both teams would trade points back-and-forth until a 6-0 scoring run by the Tigers secured set three 25-21.
SNU led the majority of set four, extending their lead as high as 20-14. ECU would not go down without a fight and went on a 9-1 run to put them on top for the first time at 22-21. In the end, the Tigers finished the set 25-23 for the 3-1 victory against the Crimson Storm.
Emma Strickland and
Nyah Walker had strong performances offensively as they reached double-digit kills with 18 and 11. Middles
Aloni Jordan and
Jade Coates each posted 7 kills with Jordan totaling 7 blocks and Coates totaling 5 blocks for a solid night at the net.
Leah Lawson recorded another double-double with 46 assists and 14 digs.
Alejandra Delgado led the defense with 20 digs while
Lisa Gonzalez tallied 10 of her own.
The East Central University volleyball team will be back in action at the Kerr Activities Center Thursday, Sept. 22 when they take on rivals Southeastern at 6:30 p.m. for the annual blackout game.
