Volleyball Tripped Up at Ouachita 3-1

ARKADELPHIA, Ark. – Southeastern Oklahoma State falls in four sets inside the Sturgis Physical Education to Ouachita Baptist Thursday evening, 3-1.
 
Ruthie Forson paced the attack with a triple-double, recording 12 kills, 31 assists and 14 digs, while Noelia Rocha matched Forson for a team-high 12 kills. Michera Moffett and Faith Kruebbe defended the net with 5.0 total blocks each, and Patience Lewis paced the side with 17 digs.
 
Southeastern (8-10, 4-4) will look to bounce back tomorrow afternoon when they take on Henderson State at 4 p.m. from the Duke Wells Center.
 
SET ONE
Southeastern and Ouachita traded blows to start the frame before the Tigers found a gap on a 4-0 burst that was quickly matched by a 5-0 spurt from the Storm to go ahead 11-8. Ouachita soon regained the lead following a 3-0 run and later a 4-0 stretch, leading 16-14. SE kept close, tying the set 16-all and 18-18, but a late burst of points from the hosts saw the Tigers take the first frame 25-22.  
 
SET TWO
The two teams were tied 10-all in the opening exchanges, and the Storm would take the lead behind kills from Andrea Urzua and Rocha, 14-13. D'Nari Mills and Kruebbe kept SE ahead 18-15, and an ace by Lewis pushed the Storm to a 20-15 advantage, forcing a timeout from the hosts.  
 
Back-to-back errors by the Tigers grew the Storm's edge, but Ouachita would come roaring back on a 7-1 burst to tie it 23-all. SE weathered the late rally, outscoring Ouachita 3-1 in the final four points, capped off by back-to-back kills from Maci Morrison and Kruebbe to give SE a 26-24 set win.
 
SET THREE
Set three went back and forth from the start to the finish, with the score tied 15 times, as SE and Ouachita were locked at 18-all. The Tigers broke the deadlock on a 4-1 burst to jump ahead 22-19 before scoring the final two points to win the set 25-21.
 
SET FOUR
A slow start by the Storm saw them trailing Ouachita 8-3 at the first break, and the Tigers would extend its edge to 10-4 after the SE timeout. The Storm cut the gap to four points after a kill by Mills and a block by Forson and Moffett, but the Tigers' attack kept up the pace with a 6-1 burst, leading 18-9. Ouachita remained in control, winning the final set 25-11.