An eight-point run at the end of the third set made the difference for both teams as No. 3 Oklahoma Baptist downed No. 6 Ouachita Baptist in the first round of the Great American Conference volleyball tournament Thursday at Bank of the Ozarks Arena.
Nerves left Oklahoma Baptist (19-12) off-balance in the first set as the Tigers (18-14) came out strong to take a 25-17 win.
"This is our first time here," said Oklahoma Baptist head coach Anna Howle. "We were nervous going into the first set, for sure. I think our team rallied and played tough through it. We didn't necessarily play perfectly or even play extremely well, but we battled through it."
Oklahoma Baptist took the battle down the stretch for a 27-25 win in the second set to tie the match at one game apiece.
The Tigers looked to have recovered early in the third set, taking a 9-4 lead, stretching it to 13-6 before the Lady Bison staged a comeback to cut their deficit to 20-16.
Oklahoma Baptist scored eight unanswered points to take a 24-20 lead before the Tigers broke service, but Ouachita Baptist was unable to hold on as the Lady Bison took the 25-21 win.
A back-and-forth affair in the fourth set saw the Tigers taking a 4-1 lead, but Oklahoma Baptist would not be denied as it battled back with a 6-0 run to take the lead, 15-12.
The Tigers battled back with a five-point run to cut their deficit to 20-19, but that was as close as they got as the Lady Bison allowed them only two points as Oklahoma Baptist claimed the set, 25-21.
"It kind of summed up how our season went," said Ouachita Baptist head coach Danny Prescott. "We played really well at any given moment. We contineud to fight, no matter what the situation was, but the biggest thing was they had a couple of players step up, and we weren't able to match their power."
Kori Bullard, a Lake Hamilton graduate, led Ouachita Baptist with 15 kills, five digs and one ace.
"Kori is a pretty amazing kid," Prescott said. "She is a four-year starter for us, and she's going to be a four-year starter for basketball. She's a 4.0 pre-med, but the biggest thing she does for our team is she leads by effort. When everybody's tired in practice, she's the one going, 'Let's go, let's go.' Even when she's tired, she's finding ways to do it. ... You always hope that you can replace people's ability, but there are certain things that you can't replace about somebody, and Kori is one of those kids. You don't ever replace a Kori Bullard in your program."
Stormi Leonard had 47 assists, 11 digs and one kill, libero Nikki Clay had 19 digs and three assists and Paige Williams had 13 digs, four kills and two assists.
Cadyn Laing led Oklahoma Baptist offensively with 18 kills while picking up seven digs and two assists, Hayden Blair had 46 assists, 11 digs and a kill, Mikayla Watson added 17 kills, 10 digs and an assist and libero Kelsi Chavez had 27 digs.
"She's done a really good job for us," Howle said of setter Hayden Blair. "The thing I love about Hayden is she wants to do right by everybody all the time. She always moves to put people in a situation where they're successful. If she struggles at that a little bit, it hurts her feelings, but today she battled through that. I think she does the best for her teammates as she can at all times, and to me, that is a really good setter and good leader for your team."
Graduating four defensive players last year, youth and inexperience played a part in the Tigers' loss.
"We brought nine in," he said. "We had five of them that have contributed throughout the course of the year. At any given time on the floor, we're pretty much freshman-sophomore heavy with a junior setter. I think it lends itself to this team to be very good next year and make good strides."
Oklahoma Baptist will face No. 2 Harding today at 3:30 p.m.
Sports on 11/17/2017