Storm Fall in Five-Set Heartbreaker in GAC Opener

Box Score BETHANY, Okla. – D'Nari Mills posted her third-straight 20-kill match, but it was not enough to lift the Southeastern to a win in its Great American Conference opener, falling in a hard-fought nailbiter 3-2 to Southern Nazarene on Tuesday night in Bethany, Okla.
 
The loss drops the Savage Storm to 1-8 overall and 0-1 to open league play, heading into a weekend road swing to Missouri.
 
Mills led all attackers in the match with 22 kills, while Jessica Hardin added 15, with Maci Morrison adding eight and Michera Moffett chipping in seven.
 
Ruthie Forson handed out a team-best 36 assists while splitting the setting duties, while McKenzie Turkoly added 18.
 
Amaya Constantino led the back row defense with 16 digs, while Patience Lewis added 14 and Mills finished with 12.
 
At the net, Morrison connected on three total blocks, while Forson added two.
 
SE jumped out in front early in set one, taking an 8-4 lead before the Crimson Storm answered with a 10-1 run to take a 14-9 advantage.
 
Southeastern would chip away at the deficit, eventually tying the match at 23-23. The Storm would fight off an SNU set point before taking the final three points, two of them off Morrison kills to take set one 26-24.
 
Set two was neck-and-neck early until SNU used a 7-1 run to take a 14-8 lead.
 
SE would close the gap to four points at 19-15, but SNU would take six of the final eight points to win the set 25-17 and tie the match up at 1-1 overall.
 
Southeastern would take an early lead in set three before the momentum would swing back in SNU's favor briefly before the team's settled into a 16-16 tie.
 
The teams would trade blows from there, with SE nearly winning the set three times before a Morrison kill would cap the set at 28-26 and give the Storm a 2-1 lead in the match.
 
In the fourth set, the teams came out trading punches before a 14-6 SNU run would give the home team control, ultimately taking the set 25-19 to force a fifth and deciding set.
 
Southeastern found itself playing catchup in the fifth set, closing the gap to 8-6 before a final 9-2 run by SNU would swipe the final set 15-8, giving the home team the 3-2 win.