Southeastern Picks up 3-2 Road Win at DBU

DALLAS, Texas – In a match that was back-and-forth all night, Southeastern scored the final five points of the fifth set to overcome a 14-11 deficit and win the deciding set against Dallas Baptist 16-14 and the match by a 3-2 score in Dallas, Texas on Tuesday night.
 
The win is the third-straight for the Savage Storm who lift their record to 8-7 on the season heading into the long-awaited return home for a pair of Great American Conference games against Arkansas tech at 7 p.m. on Oct. 3 and a 10:30 a.m. match on Oct. 4 against Harding, both in Bloomer Sullivan Gymnasium.
 
SE got a big night out of Megan Kunkel who turned in 16 kills, 12 digs, five service aces and three blocks in an all-around effort.
 
She was joined in double-figure kills by Emily Gentle who turned in 13 and Julia Benford who finished with 11 while hitting .391 for the match.
 
Alissa Benson and Madelynne Cera split the setting duties on the night fairly evenly, with Benson dishing out 23 assists and Cera adding 20.
 
Southeastern had a pair of players with 20-plus digs on the match, with Courtney Miller leading the way with 26, while Gentle added 21.
 
Kelsey Zerkel chipped in 15 digs, while Kunkel's 12 rounded out the players with double-figure dig tallies.
 
The Storm had a good night blocking as well with a 9-to-5 advantage as a team, led by five blocks from Benford which included the final two points of the match on assists with Gentle who finished with four blocks.
 
In the opening set SE led a two point lead slip away with DBU putting together a seven point run to take the lead an pull away for the 25-16 win in the set.
 
The Storm returned the favor in the second set, using a pair of short runs to open up a lead before closing the set with seven-straight points to pull out the 25-13 win.
 
The Patriots would again erase a 12-10 lead by SE, this time with a 5-0 run as part of a stretch of outscoring the Storm 11-3 to pull ahead and take the set 25-19 for a 2-1 lead.
 
Southeastern again bounced back and opened the fourth set on a 15-4 run to cruise to a 25-13 win to event he match at 2-2.
 
DBU jumped out to a 6-1 lead in the deciding set, but the Storm chipped away and closed the gap to 8-7.
 
However, the Patriots would maintain their lead and pull ahead 13-9 before SE picked up a pair of points to make it 13-11.
 
Dallas Baptist would pick up one more point to go up 14-11, but the Storm would get a side out on match-point with a kill from Gentle and SE would take advantage of four-straight attack errors by the home team, the last two coming thanks to blocks by the duo of Benford and Gentle to pull out the 16-14 win in the set and take the match 3-2.