Southeastern Downs Southern Nazarene, 3-2

DURANT, Okla. – Southeastern looked to be headed for a sweep of Southern Nazarene, but quickly found itself pushed to five sets before ultimately capturing a 15-13 win in the deciding set for a 3-2 victory and picking up its second straight win over a team ranked in the top three in the conference standings.
 
The win lifts the Savage Storm to 10-8 overall on the season and 4-2 in Great American Conference play heading into an Oct. 9 matchup with rival East Central at 7 p.m. in Ada, Okla.
 
In addition to being its second-straight win it is the fifth in the last six matches, with the lone loss coming to conference leading Arkansas Tech.
 
The Storm jumped ahead with matching 25-22 wins in the first two sets.
 
In the opener, SNU edged ahead, but an 8-3 run mid-set put SE up 14-11.
 
The lead would grow to 18-13, but a Crimson Storm run would close the gap and give the visitors a 19-18 lead.
 
SE would regain the lead with three-straight points and not look back en route to the first set win.
 
Southeastern jumped out to a big early lead in the second set, going up 11-4 at one point.
 
SNU would rally and eventually close the gap to one point, but four straight SE points would put them firmly back in front and they would hold on for the 25-22 win to take a 2-0 lead.
 
The third set was all Crimson Storm out of the gate with the visiting team mounting an 11-6 lead early.
 
SE would rally, but couldn't get closer than two points as they fell 25-22.
 
Southeastern jumped out to an early lead in the fourth set as well, going up 11-5 and eventually 14-8 before SNU mounted a 16-4 run to take the lead and eventually the set 25-21 to event he match at 2-2.
 
The teams traded points early in the fifth set, fighting to four ties, the last coming at 9-9 before the Storm scored three-straight points to take a 12-9 lead.
 
Southern Nazarene would close to 14-13, but Ariel Sanders would finish the match with a kill for the 15-13 set win and the 3-2 match victory.
 
Megan Kunkel paced the Southeastern offense with 17 kills to lead a foursome with double-digit kill totals.
 
Sanders, Julia Benford and Emily Gentle each joined her by posting 11 kills apiece.
 
Alissa Benson turned in 46 assists in the match and completed a double-double with 10 digs while adding a block and two kills.
 
The defense featured a pair of defenders with 20-plus digs, led by Kelsey Zerkel who tallied 23, while Gentle completed her double-double with 20.
 
Kunkel also wrapped up a double-double with 14 digs, while Courtney Miller turned in 11 digs to go with seven kills.
 
SE's net defense was led by Benford who racked up six blocks, including a pair of solo blocks, while Gentle added three.