Volleyball Drops Opener at OBU

SHAWNEE, Okla. – Aleksandra Rodic put up 13 kills and Southeastern pushed the preseason favorites hard, but ultimately dropped its season opener on Tuesday night 3-0 to Oklahoma Baptist in Shawnee, Okla.
 
The Savage Storm will now return home to open the home portion of it schedule on Feb. 2 when it hosts Southern Nazarene at 7 p.m. in Bloomer Sullivan Gymnasium.
 
SE was efficient over the first two sets, with just two errors in each set, hitting .389 over the first set, before outhitting OBU .214-to-.172 in the second.
 
However, the Storm were unable to take either of those sets, falling 25-21 and 25-22 before the Bison closed the match with a 25-13 third set.
 
Rodic led SE with 13 kills on the match and completed a double-double by adding 12 digs.
 
Skylor Lewis chipped in nine kills in her Storm debut, while other new additions Mya Afflerbach and Jessie Steele each added four.
 
Ruthie Forson handed out 30 assists in her first match with SE and rounded out the match with a double-double by adding 11 digs.
 
Grace Shehadeh led the defense with a 20-dig performance, while Forson and Afflerbach each collected a pair of blocks.
 
An early 9-3 run I the first set by OBU put the Storm in a hole, and despite a strong finish, scoring five of the final eight points, SE was unable to complete the rally in a 25-21 first set.
 
After falling behind 8-5 in set two, Southeastern responded with a 6-1 run triggered by Rodic and powered by a pair of McKenzie Turkoly kills.
 
The Storm would hold its lead until the 19-16 point of the set when OBU eight-straight points.  SE would answer with three in-a-row, but the Bison would get the final point and take the set 25-22.
 
Short runs marked the third set from the start as OBU used a pair of four point runs to jump in front early and the Storm were unable to manifest a rally in a 25-13 loss in the final set.