Storm Drop Five-Set Road Match at ECU

ADA, Okla. – Southeastern served with match point in the fifth set and survived a match point while forcing bonus volleyball, but ultimately was unable to swipe the road win in a 3-2 loss to rival East Central on Tuesday night in Ada, Okla.
 
The loss drops the Savage Storm to 1-12 overall and 0-4 in Great American Conference play heading into a return trip home to host Northwestern Oklahoma State at 7 p.m. on Oct. 4 in Bloomer Sullivan Arena.
 
SE was led on offense by Caroline Griffith's 16 kills, while Aleksandra Rodic and Malaysia Burns each tacked on 14 kills.
 
Jodi Dixon triggered the offense with a career-high 52 assists while completing the double-double with a match-high 23 digs.
 
Dixon's 23 digs led all players, while Rodic was next in line with 20 digs. Grace Shehadeh added 18 digs, while Caitlin Cosby chipped in 15 in the effort as the Storm racked up 101 digs as a team.
 
At the net, Griffith and Hannah Grant each posted three blocks, while Burns tallied two stops.
 
Southeastern jumped ahead early in the first set and never looked back, using a pair of five-point runs to pull away with a 25-12 win in the opening set.
 
Set two went long with the Tigers swiping a 28-26 win to even the score at 1-1.
 
The third set swung back in Southeastern's favor as the Storm pulled away for a 25-19 win, but were unable to maintain that momentum into the fourth set, falling 25-18 as the match went all squared at 2-2.
 
In the fifth set the Storm was able to edge out to a 10-7 lead and would eventually serve with match point at 14-13 and again at 15-14 but was unable to capitalize on them as ECU would score four of the final five points to hand SE an 18-16 loss in the set and a 3-2 loss in the match.