OKLAHOMA CITY (Oct. 5, 2021) – Time after time, Oklahoma Christian's volleyball team kept fighting back from deficits on Tuesday night against Northwestern Oklahoma State, but eventually, the Eagles ran out of real estate to do so.
OC twice rallied from a set down and fought off three match points in the fifth set before Northwestern prevailed 3-2 (25-18, 18-25, 25-15, 19-25, 19-17) in a nonconference match inside the Eagles' Nest.
Allyssa Hamlin led OC (5-10) with a school-record 19 kills and 14 digs and
Caitlynne Hudgens also had a double-double for the Eagles, finishing with 15 kills and 12 digs. But Northwestern (5-13) countered with the combo of Kaydee Honeycutt (25 kills) and Addison Wimmer (19 kills, 13 digs) and eventually wore down the OC defense.
Up 5-4 in the fifth set, OC surrendered six straight points and found itself in a 10-5 hole, but the Eagles successfully climbed out, forcing the Rangers into four straight attack errors. The last one pulled OC even at 12-12 and it stayed a one-point match until the final point.
OC had the first match point at 14-13, after a kill by Hudgens, but the Rangers answered with consecutive kills by Honeycutt. Another kill by Hudgens tied the match at 15-15. Honeycutt again gave Northwestern a match point with a kill, but
Kelsie Schiefelbein's kill for OC again tied the match at 16-16.
Another Honeycutt kill was followed by a kill from Hamlin, making it 17-17. Wimmer put the Rangers back ahead with a kill before an attack error by Hamilin – on a block by Ravyn Burns and Courtney Russell – ended the match.
Northwestern closed the first set on a 7-0 run, with OC committing four errors during that stretch, but the Eagles never trailed while winning the second set going away. Twelve errors by the Eagles led to Northwestern winning the third set comfortably. OC trailed 13-9 in the fourth set, but pulled even at 14-14 and 15-15, then seized control with a 6-1 run that included kills by Hudgens, Hamlin,
Hannah Rouse,
Morgan Demuth and Hamlin again.
OC outhit the Rangers .193 to .166. Demuth added 10 kills for OC, while
Kyla Chavez had a career-high 39 assists and
Brylie Berryman had 27 digs. Russell had 13 kills for the Rangers and Tarra Parks had 35 digs.
OC will return to Lone Star Conference play this weekend, hosting Texas-Permian Basin at 6 p.m. Friday and Western New Mexico at noon on Saturday.
