Storm Topple OBU to Lock Up Tourney Bid

SHAWNEE, Okla. – Southeastern needed a win in one of its final two matches to make the conference tournament and went to Shawnee, Okla., and earned that win against conference-leading Oklahoma Baptist, 3-0, on Tuesday night.
 
The win lifted the Savage Storm to 12-16 overall on the year and 5-10 in Great American Conference play, locking up its position in the postseason tournament heading into the regular season finale at home against rival East Central on Nov. 10 at 7 p.m. in Bloomer Sullivan Gymnasium.
 
Abby Jameson collected a match-high 18 kills to lead the way on offense, with Karine Cavalcante added 15 kills in the effort.
 
Julia Benford and Arianna Baker added six kills apiece, while Erika Costain added five.
 
Alissa Benson triggered the offense with 42 assists and completed the double-double with 15 digs on defense.
 
Caitlin Cosby led that defense with 24 digs which paced all defenders.  She was joined in double-digits by Benson and Jameson who each had 15 as well as Costain who added 11.
 
Baker logged four blocks in the match, while Cavalcante added three.
 
As a team the Storm outkilled OBU 50-to-39 and outdug the Bison 78-to-69.
 
Southeastern handed OBU just its second 3-0 loss to a conference opponent, the other coming to league-leading Harding.
 
The Storm opened strong with a 4-0 lead in the first set, before the match settled into a back-and-forth affair.  The Bison would pull away to a 24-21 lead, but the Storm fended off three set points and won five-straight points to take the set 26-24.
 
SE edged out to a lead in the second set and would push it to four points on a Jameson kill which made it 15-11.  OBU would tighten the set and tie the score at 22-22, but the Storm would take three of the final four points for a 25-23 win and a 2-0 lead in the match.
 
A 10-3 run early in the third set would stake SE to a 13-8 lead after a Benford ace. OBU would erase that lead and eventually take a 21-20 lead, but a Benford kill would trigger four-straight points for a 24-21 lead.  The Bison would snag the next two points, but Cavalcante would close the match out with a kill to take the set 25-23 and the match 3-0.