Southeastern Drops GAC Opener at SNU

BETHANY, Okla. – Southeastern got off to a slow start and never fully recovered en route to a 3-0 loss in the Great American Conference opener against Southern Nazarene on Tuesday night in Bethany, Okla.
 
The Savage Storm fell 25-15, 25-14 and 25-18, and will return to the court Sept 18 when it travels to Edmond, Okla., for a 2 p.m. matchup with Central Oklahoma followed by a 6 p.m. contest against Oklahoma City that evening in Oklahoma City, Okla.
 
Abby Jameson and Julia Benford continued to lead the SE offense, with each posting nine kills.  The pair combined to supply 18 of the team's 26 kills in the match.
 
Alissa Benson dished out 21 assist on the match while adding a pair of kills, six digs and a block.
 
Charlene Nerio led the back row defense with 13 digs, while Kristina Bergman added 10, while Benford posted a pair of blocks to provide the net defense.
 
The opening set was even out of the blocks, but a 9-0 run by SNU put the Storm in a hole they were unable to rally out of, falling 25-15.
 
In the second set the Crimson Storm slowly edged away early, building a 9-3 lead and eventually pulling away for the 25-14 win as SE was unable to pick up consecutive points in the set.
 
Southeastern jumped ahead 4-1 to open the third set and held a 7-6 advantage when SNU put together a 6-0 run to take the lead.
 
They would go up by as many as seven points when the Storm put together a 9-1 run to regain the lead at 17-16.
 
However, the home team would end the run and answer with a 9-1 run of their own to end the set 25-18 and hand SE the 3-0 loss.