SAN ANGELO, Texas (Nov. 18, 2021) – It's been a whirlwind week for Oklahoma Christian's volleyball team, as the Eagles have juggled academic finals with a long road trip that began an upset in the Lone Star Conference Championship tournament that earned them a trip to the event's final site.

The proverbial clock struck midnight on Thursday night for the Eagles just as it did for Cinderella, as OC – the lowest seed in the 12-team LSC tournament – fell 3-0 (25-17, 25-16, 25-14) to fourth-seeded West Texas A&M in a quarterfinal match at Angelo State's Junell Center.

OC (12-18) couldn't recapture the defensive magic that lifted coach Jason Skoch's Eagles to their first postseason win – a 3-2 decision at fifth-seeded Texas A&M-Commerce on Tuesday night – since the program resumed playing in the spring 2021 season, for the first time since fall 1983.

West Texas A&M (21-4) hit .218 to advance to Friday's semifinal match against eighth-seeded Texas-Permian Basin, which stunned top-seeded Angelo State in five sets in another quarterfinal. No. 10 seed St. Edward's (Texas) also advanced into the semifinals by beating No. 2 seed Texas-Tyler.

Two kills by Yolaine Lopez and another by Morgan Demuth staked OC to a quick 3-0 lead in the first set, but it proved to be uphill sledding for the Eagles after that. The Buffaloes seized control with an 8-2 run and never trailed again. OC led 5-2 early in the second set, but West Texas A&M scored six straight points and pulled away.

The third set proved even worse for OC, as its only lead came at 1-0. The Eagles were within 9-8 at one point but only managed six more points the rest of the match. OC posted a .028 hitting percentage.

Anna Strother came off the bench to lead OC with five kills. Brylie Berryman, who had 42 digs in the win over TAMUC, had 15 against West Texas A&M, while Kyla Chavez had 13 to go with six assists and Hannah Rouse had 11.

Torrey Miller had 14 kills to lead West Texas A&M, while Blair Moreland had 18 assists and Chandler Vogel had 23 digs.