HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Southeastern will play for the first conference championship in program history after downing Southwestern Oklahoma State on Friday night in the semifinals of the Great American Conference Tournament, earning a berth in the finals in Hot Springs, Ark.
The win lifts the Savage Storm to 15-16 overall and is the fourth-straight victory to close out the season.
It will be an all Oklahoma final at 2 p.m. on Saturday afternoon as SE will take on Southern Nazarene with a berth in the Central region tournament on the line along with a GAC championship.
Arianna Baker turned in a season-best 17 kills while hitting .441, with
Julia Benford right on her heels with 16 kills while hitting .452.
Abby Jameson added 11 kills and
Karine Cavalcante chipped in 10 in the effort.
The Storm outkilled SWOSU 64-to-46 on the match and held a .210-to-.161 in hitting.
Alissa Benson dished out 48 assists on the contest while also turning in three kills and wrapping up a double-double with 17 digs.
Defensively
Caitlin Cosby turned in 27 digs to lead all defenders as the team held a 78-to-71 edge in digs.
Benson's 17 digs was next in line with Cavalcante turning in a double-double of her own with 15 digs.
Benson also collected a pair of solo blocks while Jameson chipped in a pair of blocks as well.
The Storm led by as many as six in the first set, but the Bulldogs would rally for a 25-23 win in the set.
SE jumped out to a 7-3 lead early in the second set and held the advantage until SWOSU stormed back to take a 22-21 lead.
They would leads at 23-22 and the teams would tie the set at 24-24, but Jameson and Benford would get kills on back-to-back rallies for a 26-24 win to even the match at 1-1.
The Storm dominated the third set jumping to a 13-5 lead early and never looking back on its way to a 25-15 win to take a 2-1 lead.
The teams traded the lead back-and-forth in the fourth set until a 7-2 SE run opened up a 21-17 lead.
SWOSU closed to 21-19, but the Storm had the last word with four straight points, ending on an
Erika Costain kill for a 25-21 win to secure a 3-1 victory in the match.
