The East Central University volleyball team traveled to Weatherford, Oklahoma for their first Great American Conference contest of the 2022 season, falling to Southwestern Oklahoma State University 3-2 in their fourth five-set match of the season.
"We didn't finish," said Head Coach Cheri Lindsay. The Tigers are now 2-8 overall and 0-1 in GAC play.
ECU set the tone in set one claiming the first three points of the match to take an early lead. The Tigers never lost their lead and sealed the opening set 25-20 with a kill from Aloni Jordan.
Both teams traded points back-and-forth to start off set two before settling at 12-11 in favor of ECU. With a kill by Emma Strickland, the Tigers would then go on to a 10-0 scoring run to have a dominating 22-11 lead against the Bulldogs. Three more kills by Strickland would secure set two 25-14.
Set three was an uphill battle for ECU, trailing behind SWOSU until it was match point for the Bulldogs. Despite being down 24-20, the Tigers fought back and went on a 4-0 scoring run to tie it 24 all. Each team would have a match point twice before a final kill from SWOSU prevented the Tiger sweep 30-28.
With the third set win under their belt, the Bulldogs picked up the momentum and kept control of set four. Just as ECU did in set two, with a score of 25-14, SWOSU forced the fifth set.
SWOSU came out with a 5-1 scoring run to begin set five and did not let up, pushing the lead 10-5 over ECU. Despite three service errors from the Bulldogs in the last 8 points of the game, the Tigers could not push back and dropped set five 15-8.
As a team, ECU had a .169 hitting percentage (53k-24e-172ta) and had two tigers record a double-double. Emma Strickland had a season-high 24 kills and 12 digs in the match while Leah Lawson added 25 assists and 14 digs. Alejandra Delgado led the defense in digs with 25 and Aloni Jordan posted 3 blocks to go along with her 7 kills. Ashleigh Miller also tallied 10 kills while Nyah Walker was close behind with 9.
The East Central University volleyball team will be back in action Thursday and Friday as they travel to Searcy, Arkansas to compete in the 2022 Harding Invitational.
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