Volleyball Drops Hard-Fought Matchup at SNU

BETHANY, Okla. – Southeastern bounced back from a slow start and had a trio of players reach double-digit kills, but was unable to pull out the road victory, dropping a 3-1 decision at Southern Nazarene on Tuesday night in Bethany, Okla.
 
The loss drops the Savage Storm to 1-10 overall and 0-2 in Great American Conference play heading into a return home on Sept. 26 when SE hosts Southwestern Oklahoma State at 7 p.m. in Bloomer Sullivan Arena.
 
Caroline Griffith paced a trio of players with double-digit kills, turning in a match-high 13, while Malaysia Burns followed with 11 kills and Aleksandra Rodic added 10.
 
Taylor Robinson added five kills and McKenzie Turkoly chipped in four to round out the Storm offense.
 
Jodi Dixon handed out 37 assists to trigger the offense and added seven digs and a service ace.  
 
Caitlin Cosby led the defense with a match-high 22 digs to pace all defenders, while Grace Shehadeh followed with 12 digs, while Rodic and Sydney Meget finished with nine each.
 
The Storm finished the match with seven blocks as a team, holding a 7-to-5 edge over SNU, led by four blocks from Griffith and two each from Burns, Rodic, Turkoly, and Robinson.
 
After a back-and-forth start to the first set, SE fell behind on the wrong end of an 11-3 run as NU would swipe the set 25-15.
 
The Storm responded in kind in set two.
 
After clawing to a 13-13 tie in the second frame, SE reeled off eight-straight points with Cosby serving and capped by a Griffith kill which opened up a 21-13 lead.
 
The Storm would close out the 25-15 win in the set with a Griffith and Turkoly block.
 
The third set turned into a battle as SE relief from a late six-point deficit to tie the set at 23-23.
 
The Storm would eventually fight off three-straight set points before serving with a chance to win the set at 27-27.
 
Unfortunately, SE was unable to capture that set point and despite fighting off a fourth set-point, SNU was able to take the third set 30-28 to take a 2-1 lead.
 
The fourth set got off to a slow start as the Crimson Storm reeled off a 10-2 start to the set and Southeastern never recovered en route to a 25-15 loss in the final set.