ADA, Okla. – The East Central University volleyball team celebrated Senior Night in style Tuesday evening, rallying from an opening-set loss to earn a 3-1 victory over Southern Nazarene University at the Kerr Activities Center. The Tigers won the final three sets (19-25, 25-21, 26-24, 26-24) to send their seniors out with a victory in their final home Great American Conference match of the season.
With postseason implications on the line, the win was an important one for ECU as the Tigers continue their push to secure a spot in the GAC Championship Tournament. The Tigers will close out the regular season on Thursday, Nov. 5, traveling to Shawnee, Okla., to take on Oklahoma Baptist University.
Southern Nazarene claimed the opening set, 25-19, but ECU responded with a much stronger effort in the second. The Tigers found their rhythm offensively, recording 16 kills while hitting .205. With the score at 22-21 in ECU's favor,
Lana Wright and
Reagan Hutchinson delivered three consecutive kills to close out the set, giving the Tigers a 25-21 win and evening the match at one set apiece.
ECU carried its momentum into the third set, jumping out to an early 6-1 lead before SNU worked its way back to cut the deficit to 10-9. The Tigers responded with a 7-1 scoring run to extend their advantage to 17-10, but the Crimson Storm continued to battle, eventually pulling within one at 20-19. ECU appeared poised to take the set with a 24-20 lead, but SNU rallied to even the score at 24-24. The Tigers held their ground in the closing points, with kills from
Addison Iman and
Faiana Halatoa securing a 26-24 victory and giving ECU a 2-1 match lead.
The Tigers looked to finish the match in the fourth set, once again finding themselves in a tight battle. ECU delivered 18 kills while hitting .271, its most efficient offensive performance of the night, and built an 18-11 advantage. SNU chipped away at the deficit, however, eventually tying the set at 21-21. The two teams traded points down the stretch, with the Crimson Storm reaching match point, but ECU answered with three consecutive points to close out another 26-24 set victory and secure the Senior Night win.
Both teams finished with 55 kills and nine service aces. ECU held slight advantages in assists (51-49) and digs (95-93), while Southern Nazarene recorded eight blocks to ECU's seven. The Tigers finished with a .201 hitting percentage compared to SNU's .168.
The victory moves ECU to 11-17 overall and 6-9 in GAC play, while Southern Nazarene moves to 16-13 overall and 8-7 in conference action.
Reagan Hutchinson led the Tigers offensively with a career-high 21 kills while hitting .308, adding 14 digs for a double-double.
Seran Eran added nine kills on an impressive .381 hitting percentage, while
Lana Wright contributed eight kills and five blocks.
Jaylani Evans chipped in six kills, and
Addison Iman recorded five kills.
Emily Pena paced the offense with 26 assists and added 11 digs for a double-double. Defensively,
Gabriela Etter led the Tigers with 19 digs, followed by
Breana Timms with 18 and
Reagan Hutchinson with 14.
