ST. JOSEPH, Mo. – Oklahoma Christian volleyball split a pair of matches Saturday at the MWSU Fieldhouse, falling to Southwest Minnesota State in straight sets before responding with a five-set victory over Northwest Missouri State.
Southwest Minnesota State 3, Oklahoma Christian 0
Oklahoma Christian opened the day against Southwest Minnesota State, falling in three competitive sets, 21-25, 21-25 and 22-25.
Chloe Jones led the Eagles offensively with 10 kills while adding 13 digs. Molly Brunell finished with seven kills, while Kenzy McArtor and Leah Duncan each added six. McArtor hit .357 with just one error on 14 attacks.
Summer Van Meerveld and Emma Eyster split the setting duties, recording 15 and 16 assists, respectively. Macey Nehring added 10 digs for the OC defense.
Oklahoma Christian 3, Northwest Missouri State 2
OC bounced back in the afternoon with a five-set win over Northwest Missouri State.
The Eagles came out strong, hitting .438 without committing an attack error in the opening set to take a 25-17 victory. Northwest Missouri State answered by taking the next two sets, 25-23 and 25-20, putting OC one set away from defeat.
Oklahoma Christian responded in the fourth, earning a 25-16 victory to force a decisive fifth set. The Eagles then closed out the match with a 15-12 win to secure the five-set victory.
Jones once again led the OC attack, finishing with 16 kills while hitting .359 and adding 17 digs. McArtor followed with 14 kills on a .367 hitting percentage, while Susanna Hodson recorded 12 kills. Duncan added 10 kills and hit .500.
Van Meerveld led the Eagles with 29 assists and added 10 digs, while Eyster contributed 23 assists. Nehring anchored the back row with a team-high 22 digs.
Jenna McClure provided a major spark from the service line, recording nine service aces in the victory. Van Meerveld added three more as OC finished with 13 aces as a team.
The Eagles turned in one of their strongest offensive performances of the young season, recording 66 kills with only 12 errors on 162 attacks for a .333 hitting percentage. OC held Northwest Missouri State to a .258 hitting percentage in the win.
After two weeks on the road, the Eagles will open their 2026 home schedule by hosting the Lone Star Conference Challenge, welcoming the Midwestern State Mustangs and Texas A&M-Kingsville Javelinas to the Nest. The three-match challenge will take place on the campus of Oklahoma Christian from Thursday, Sept. 10 through Saturday, Sept. 12.
The Eagles will open play against Midwestern State on Thursday at 6 p.m. On Friday, the Mustangs and Javelinas will face off in the Nest at 6 p.m. Oklahoma Christian will close out the challenge Saturday against Texas A&M-Kingsville at 1 p.m.
