Volleyball Falls in Five-Set Battle

DURANT, Okla. – Despite 20 kills from Karine Cavalcante, Southeastern was unable to snap its losing skid in a back and forth match with Southwestern, falling 3-2 on Friday night in Bloomer Sullivan Gymnasium.
 
The loss dips the Savage Storm to 7-9 overall on the year and 0-4 in Great American Conference play heading into a Saturday afternoon contest with Northwestern Oklahoma Stage at 1 p.m.
 
Cavalcante finished with 20 kills to lead SE, while Julia Benford chipped in 14 while hitting .379.
 
Erika Costain was just shy of double digits with nine kills, while Arianna Baker and Kristina Bergman each added six.
 
Alissa Benson finished the night with 39 assists after splitting time over the first two sets with Makenna Stillwell who turned in nine over two sets.
 
Benson also added a block and 14 digs.
 
Caitlin Cosby continued to lead the Storm defense with 23 digs, whiel Benson's 14 was next in line and Cavalcante finished the double-double with 10 digs.
 
Benford added five blocks at the net, while Cavalcante was in on three.
 
Southeastern took an early 1-0 lead after holding off SWOSU in the first set for a 25-20 win.
 
The lead was short-lived as the Storm played from behind for most of the second set and despite a late 5-0 run to rally, would fall 25-22.
 
A 6-1 start to the third set got SE off to the right start, and despite the Bulldogs taking a 21-20 lead, but would score six of the last nine points for a 26-24 win to take a 2-1 lead.
 
However, a 6-0 run early in the fourth set by SWOSU put the Storm on its heels, but SE was able to rally to within one point at 19-18, but the Bulldogs would take six of the final eight to even the match 2-2 with a 25-20 win.
 
In the final set Southeastern fell behind 5-1 early and was never able to fight out of the hole in a 15-8 loss in the deciding set.