SE Volleyball Sweeps Past Tigers, 3-0

ADA, Okla. – Julia Benford led Southeastern with 10 kills, hitting .625 in the process, while helping the Savage Storm to a 3-0 sweep of rival East Central on Thursday night in Ada, Okla.
 
The win is the third-straight and sixth in the last seven matches and lifts the Savage Storm to 11-8 overall on the year and 5-2 in Great American Conference play.
 
Southeastern will continue its road swing Oct. 14 when it heads to Weatherford, Okla., with revenge on its mind to face Southwestern Oklahoma State at 7 p.m.
 
Benford was SE's only player in double-digit kills, while Megan Kunkel added nine, with Emily Gentle and Ariel Sanders each turning in seven.
 
Benford's impressive .625 hitting percentage with 10 kills on 16 attempts with no errors led the Storm to a .299 team hitting percentage with 42 kills and only 10 errors in 107 total attempts.
 
Alissa Benson and Madelynne Cera split the setter duties, with Benson leading the way with 20 assists and Cera chipping in 12.
 
On defense, Kelsey Zerkel turned in a match-high 18 digs, while Courtney Miller, Benson and Cera each added seven digs.
 
At the net, Benford and Sanders each picked up two blocks.
 
The opening set was back-and-forth from the start, with the teams trading points up to a 9-9 tie.
 
That's when SE would reel off five of the next six points to pull ahead and not look back en route to the 25-22 win.
 
The Storm never trailed in the second set, jumping out to a 12-4 lead and cruising to a 25-16 win and a 2-0 lead in the match.
 
The Tigers jumped in front early in the third set, mounting a 9-5 lead early before five-straight SE points put the Storm ahead 10-9.
 
The teams would then trade points all the way to a 19-19 tie, but Southeastern would score six of the last seven points to close out the match with a 25-20 win, completing the sweep.