Savage Storm Push Past Southern Nazarene 3-1

DURANT, Okla. – Southeastern Oklahoma State takes down Southern Nazarene 3-1 at the Bloomer Sullivan Gym to improve to 5-8 overall and 2-2 in GAC matches.
 
D'Nari Mills notched her ninth double-double of the year with 19 kills and 21 digs, while Ruthie Forson recorded her fourth triple-double with 45 assists, 11 kills and 15 digs. Noelia Rocha provided another ten kills for the blue-and-gold, and Patience Lewis recorded a team-high 30 digs.

Southeastern racked up 58 kills over the four sets on a .229 attack percentage, and tallied 97 digs and 5.0 total team blocks. The SE defense forced SNU into 23 attack errors, as the Crimson Storm finished the match with a .188 attack average. 
 
SET ONE
Little separated the two sides in the opening exchanges, as Southeastern and Southern Nazarene were tied 7-all. The Crimson Storm took a two-point lead, but a 5-0 run by the blue-and-gold flipped the set in favor of the Savage Storm 12-9 to force a SNU timeout. Southeastern continued to hold its lead before extending its advantage to four after a block from Forson and Maci Morrison and a SNU attack error, 19-15.
 
Two kills from Rocha, and another by Morrison kept the Savage Storm ahead before taking advantage of two more attack errors by Southern Nazarene to claim the first set 25-22.
 
SET TWO
Southern Nazarene held the early lead, 6-4, and would soon be up 10-6 after a 4-0 run. Three kills off the hand of Mills, and another from Morrison kept SE on the heels of SNU, but the Crimson Storm built a 17-11 edge on a 3-0 spurt. A timeout by Southeastern regrouped the attack, going on a 4-1 run to cut the gap to 18-15 before tying the set 20-all on a 4-0 burst.  
 
Despite the flurry of points by the Savage Storm, Southern Nazarene soon found its footing again and closed the frame with five straight points to win the set 25-20.
 
SET THREE
Southeastern trailed 5-3 to Southern Nazarene, but a burst of points by the Savage Storm saw the blue-and-gold take the lead 11-7 on a 6-1 run featuring back-to-back kills from Mills. Another three kills by SE from Michera Moffett, Mills and Forson kept Southeastern ahead 15-10 before the Crimson Storm rattled off five points to cut the gap to 17-15.
 
SE replied with a 6-1 run to stretch its lead to six, but the Crimson Storm stayed close, cutting the SE advantage to 24-21. Following a Southeastern timeout, Moffett slammed down the final point of the set to win the frame 25-21.
 
SET FOUR
The Savage Storm raced out of the gates in the fourth set, taking a 7-1 lead at the first break before extending it to 11-2 as SNU used its second timeout. SE stayed on the front foot through two kills by Mills and three from Forson to stretch the lead to 16-3. Moffett, Forson and Rocha continued the SE's run, as the Savage Storm led 20-4 after a dominant 8-0 burst.
 
The Crimson Storm kept battling, stringing together a burst of points before Mills smashed down the final point of the match, as the Savage Storm won the final set 25-12.  
 
Southeastern (5-8, 2-2) hits the road for its next match on Thursday, Oct. 3, at Southwestern Oklahoma State at 6 p.m.