Volleyball Downs Rival Tigers in Five Sets

ADA, Okla. – Aleksandra Rodic and Jessie Steele combined for 32 kills to lead the Southeastern attack on its way to a 3-2 victory over rival East Central in the regular season finale on Friday night in Ada, Okla.
 
The win lifts the Savage Storm to 2-8 on the season and sets its postseason schedule as well as SE will open Great American Conference Tournament play against Northwestern Oklahoma State.
 
Rodic turned in a match-high 17 kills while Steele was right behind with a season-best 15 on the match.
 
Malaysia Burns was next in line with seven kills, while Caroline Griffith added six.
 
Ruthie Forson dished out 41 assists to lead the way, while adding three kills and a service ace on offense, while chipping in two blocks and nine digs on defense.
 
Grace Shehadeh led the back row with 16 digs, while Micah Stiggers added 14. Crislynn Autry and Rodic also reached double-figures with 11 each.
 
SE held a 9.0-to-3.0 edge as a team in blocks, while Griffith led the Storm with seven blocks for the match.
 
The Tigers jumped out early in the first set, eventually pushing out to an 11-3 lead.
 
The Storm would put together a rally, closing to 19-15, but that was as close as it would get as ECU would take set one 25-19.
 
Southeastern came out on fire in the second set, hitting .484 as a team for the set with one error across from 17 kills.
 
The teams remained close early, playing to a 9-9 tie before the Storm picked up the pace and would outscore the Tigers 16-7 over the remainder of the match, with a Steele kill finishing off a 25-16 win to even the match at 1-1.
 
The momentum would swing back in ECU's favor in the third set as ECU scored the first five points and never looked back, taking the set 25-15 to grab a 2-1 lead.
 
SE returned the favor in commanding fashion in the fourth set, hitting .481 as a team in the set with 14 kills across from one error.
 
The Storm reeled off a 9-1 start and would eventually push out to a 14-3 lead after a Forson kill.
 
Southeastern would take 11 of the next 17 points to win the set 25-9 and even the match at 2-2.
 
The fifth set saw the Storm hit .304 as a team, with Rodic and Griffith each landing three kills.
 
The teams traded points with three ties and two lead changes early before a 7-2 run by the Storm would stake them to a 10-5 lead.
 
ECU would close the gap to 12-9, but a Griffith kill would stop the run and SE would take the set 15-10 for the 3-2 win in the match.