SE Bitten by Lions in Five Sets

Box Score DURANT, Okla. – Courtney Miller turned in her best effort of the season to help Southeastern take Texas A&M-Commerce to a fifth set, however the Savage Storm was unable to close out the contest, falling 3-2 on Tuesday night in Bloomer Sullivan Gymnasium.
 
The non-conference loss drops SE to 10-14 overall on the year heading back into a league matchup on Thursday, Oct. 31 in Ada, Okla., against East Central at 7 p.m.
 
Miller paced all offensive players on the floor with 21 kills, hitting .500 in the process with just three errors on 36 attacks.  She also chipped in 11 digs to complete the double-double while adding four blocks, five assists and a service ace.
 
Megan Kunkel also added double-digit kills with 12, while Emily Gentle chipped in nine, Madelynne Cera added eight and Ariel Sanders finished with seven.
 
The teams posted matching tallies of 61 kills each, but SE hit .241 on the match while the Lions were at .230.
 
Cera also dished out 37 assists in the match, and added nine digs to flirt with a triple-double.
 
Kunkel led a foursome of players with double-digit dig numbers with 16, while Taylor Benner was right behind at 13, followed by Miller's 11 and Gentle at 10.
 
Sanders led the SE defense at the net with five total blocks, while Miller added four.  Julia Benford and Kunkel each pitched in two.
 
The Lions put three players in double-digit kills with Amy Devault and Cioara Holmes each finishing with 13 and Breanne Snyder adding 12.
 
Jordan Neal dished out 50 of the team's 56 assists, while Li'I Etimani turned in a team-high 15 digs and Kayla Bond added five blocks.
 
Southeastern held a 9-to-7 edge in team blocks in the match.
 
SE opened with a 25-17 win that featured seven ties and three lead changes, but none after a 9-1 run made the score 17-11.
 
The Lions answered, however, jumping to an 8-2 lead early and cruising to a 25-14 win in the second set to even the match at 1-1.
 
The teams battled to an 8-8 tie in the third set, but an 8-2 run by TAMUC would leave SE in a 16-10 hole en route to a 25-19 loss.
 
The Storm fell behind 4-2 out of the gate, but straightened things out and used a 13-4 run to mount a 14-8 lead in the set before evening the match with a 25-=17 win to force a fifth set.
 
The Lions scored the first four points of the final set and SE could never quote recover, closing the deficit to two points at one interval and three at two others before falling 15-10 in the deciding set.