ST. JOSEPH, Mo. – Oklahoma Christian volleyball opened play in St. Joseph on Friday with a pair of tough matches, falling in five sets to Northern State before dropping a three-set match to host Missouri Western.
Northern State 3, Oklahoma Christian 2
Oklahoma Christian showed plenty of fight in its opening match of the day after Northern State jumped out to a 2-0 advantage.
The Wolves took the opening set 25-15 before edging the Eagles 26-24 in a tightly contested second set. OC responded in the third, picking up a 25-22 victory to keep the match alive.
The Eagles carried that momentum into the fourth set, turning in their best offensive performance of the match. OC recorded 15 kills with just two errors on 38 attempts for a .342 hitting percentage, taking the set 25-19 and forcing a decisive fifth.
Chloe Jones led the Oklahoma Christian attack with 18 kills while hitting .302 and added 17 digs for a double-double. Kenzy McArtor added 13 kills and six block assists, while Lauren Cary finished with seven kills on 14 attempts without an error for a team-best .500 hitting percentage.
Summer Van Meerveld directed the offense with 31 assists while adding 13 digs and three service aces. Emma Eyster added 16 assists, while Macey Nehring led the Eagles defensively with 19 digs.
Missouri Western 3, Oklahoma Christian 0
The Eagles returned to the court later Friday to face host Missouri Western, which entered the match undefeated.
The Griffons jumped out quickly, hitting .457 in the opening set on their way to a 25-13 victory. Oklahoma Christian responded with a stronger second set, but Missouri Western held off the Eagles 25-21 before completing the sweep with a 25-19 win in the third.
Jones once again led the Eagles offensively, recording 10 kills on 28 attempts with just two errors for a .286 hitting percentage. Leah Duncan added eight kills while hitting a team-best .353, and Molly Brunell finished with six kills.Â
Van Meerveld recorded 15 assists, while Eyster added 11. Jones also led the defensive effort with 13 digs, followed by Nehring with 12 and Eyster with 10.Â
The Eagles will be right back in action with another two games in St. Joseph, MO on Saturday, September 5th facing off with No. 14 Southwest Minnesota State at 11:30 a.m. and finishing off the day against Northwest Missouri State at 4 p.m.
