LAREDO, Texas - Oklahoma Christian volleyball battled through a rollercoaster five-set road marathon on Saturday afternoon, outlasting Texas A&M International 3-2 (25-15, 25-21, 21-25, 22-25, 15-13) at the TAMIU Kinesiology and Convocation Building. With the victory, the Eagles improved to 10-9 overall and 4-4 in Lone Star Conference (LSC) play, while TAMIU dropped to 7-13 overall and 1-8 in conference competition.
Oklahoma Christian came out firing in the opening set, combining an efficient .370 hitting percentage with sharp defensive play to pull away early. Molly Brunell scored late kills to anchor a 6-1 run that closed out a dominant 25-15 win. The second set featured a tightly contested start before the Eagles used a 7-1 mid-set surge behind consecutive kills from Jenna McClure and redshirt freshman Chloe Jones to take control. After TAMIU narrowed the gap late, Jones delivered the set-clinching kill to hand OC a 25-21 victory and a 2-0 match lead.
Refusing to go quietly on their home court, the Dustdevils mounted a comeback in the third and fourth sets. Led by Ece Ozdemir's 21 kills and Andrea Nunez's 20 kills, the Dustdevils rode the momentum into the fourth, opening up an early 8-4 cushion. Despite a late rally by OC sparked by Kenzy McArtor, TAMIU held on for a 25-22 set win to force a winner-take-all fifth set.
The deciding fifth set was a battle of attrition featuring sharp attacking on both sides. OC established an early 4-0 edge capped by a McClure service ace, but TAMIU responded to tie the set at 12-12. At 13-13, Brunell delivered a clutch kill off a set from Macey Nehring to earn match point. In the final rally, McClure sealed the victory with a strike off another setup from Nehring, finishing off a 15-13 final set.
Brunell led the Eagle attack with a team-high 18 kills while hitting an efficient .381 across all five sets. McClure put together a stellar all-around performance, recording 17 kills, 10 digs, and three service aces for a team-leading 20.5 points.Â
McArtor added 14 kills with a .310 hitting efficiency, while Nehring anchored the backline with a match-high 26 digs alongside 12 assists.Â
Summer Van Meerveld (24 assists, nine digs) and Emma Eyster (28 assists, 20 digs) led the offense, distributing 52 total assists to keep the attack balanced. Overall, Oklahoma Christian out-hit the Dustdevils .279 to .256 and accumulated 71 total kills.
Up Next
Oklahoma Christian heads home for a homestand, beginning on Tuesday with a non-conference matchup against Southern Nazarene at 6 P.M.
