Storm Fall in Five Sets against DBU

DURANT, Okla. – Caroline Griffith hit .419 and posted a team-high 14 kills to help Southeastern stake a 2-1 lead over Dallas Baptist but the Savage Storm was unable to maintain the momentum in a five-set loss to the Patriots on Tuesday night in Bloomer Sullivan Arena.
 
The loss drops the Savage Storm to 1-14 overall on the year heading back into Great American Conference play with home matches against Arkansas Tech and Harding on Oct. 11 and 12, respectively.
 
Griffith posted her best attack percentage of the season at .419 with 14 kills across from one error on 31 attacks while Malaysia Burns added 11 kills in the effort.
 
Hannah Grant just missed double-figures with nine, while Aleksandra Rodic was right behind at eight and McKenzie Turkoly chipped in six.
 
Arabella Bouchard again came off the bench inset two and would lead the team's setters by handing out 22 assists while Jodi Dixon turned in 14.
 
Defensively Caitlin Cosby's match-high 24 digs led a trio of players in double-figures with Rodic adding 18 and Bouchard turning in a double-double with 10.
 
Grant and Burns led the defense at the net with four blocks each, while Griffith turned in a pair.
 
SE stormed out to a 1-0 lead in the match, recovering from a brief early deficit to reel off a 9-3 run and take an 11-7 lead.
 
DBU would rally to tie the match, but a 5-1 run capped by a Burns kill would extend the lead to 17-13 and the Storm would polish off the match by scoring four of the final five points for a 25-19 win in set one.
 
The second set flipped the other way as a pair of early DBU runs would leave SE playing catch up before an 8-2 run to end the match handed the Storm a 25-16 loss in the set and tied the match at 1-1.
 
However, Southeastern was ready to bounce back and opened the third set with a 6-1 run and would later extend the lead to 13-5 before pulling away with a 25-16 win of its own in set three to take a 2-1 lead.
 
Unfortunately, switching sides was again bad luck for the Storm as DBU scored the first five points and opened up an 11-1 lead and despite a late 5-0 run SE was unable to run them down in a 25-15 set four loss to even the match at 2-2.
 
The fifth set opened in a similar fashion to the fourth as the Patriots jumped to an 8-2 lead before the teams switched sides.  The switch did not change the momentum however, as DBU would score seven of the final eight points in the set to take it 15-5 and win the match 3-2.