DURANT, Okla. – Southeastern Oklahoma State sweeps past Southern Arkansas at home 3-0 on Friday evening behind 21 kills from
D'Nari Mills, as SE improves to 10-11 overall and 6-5 in the GAC.
"Glad we handled business and got it done in three. I'm really proud of the fight we have shown. It's always nice to finish up the Arkansas side with two wins," said head coach
Nicole Solum-Mitchell. "I'm excited to get back to the Oklahoma side and compete with these teams again," said coach Solum-Mitchell.
Mills finished the match with a .462 attack average, while
Alexis Williams tallied nine kills on a .444 clip.
Ruthie Forson notched a double-double, dishing out 36 assists and adding 11 digs.
Patience Lewis recorded a team-high 21digs, and
Michera Moffett would pace the defense at the net with 4.0 total blocks and four kills.
SET ONE
A tightly contested start had the Storm and Muleriders tied at 10-all. Southeastern rattled off three straight points before building a 3-0 run to jump ahead 17-12 at the first break. Following the Mulerider timeout, Mills slammed down two more kills to extend the lead to 19-14 before another burst of points by the Storm stretched their edge to 21-15. SE would take the opening set 25-17 with three straight kills by Williams to close out the frame. Mills racked up seven kills in the first set on a .462 attack percentage, while the team hit .405 for the frame.
SET TWO
Southeastern took the early lead, up 8-4 after a Southern Arkansas timeout, and would soon extend its advantage to 16-11 on a 5-0 run, featuring a pair of kills by Mills. The Storm kept on the front foot, stretching the gap to eight, 22-14, on a 6-1 burst with another two kills by Mills. The blue-and-gold closed out the set on a 3-1 run capped off by a kill by
Kendyll Knox to claim a 25-17 set victory.
SET THREE
SE held a 6-3 advantage at the start and would extend it to 9-4 after a kill and ace from Mills. Southeastern stayed ahead with another two kills by Knox, as the Storm held a four-to-five point edge over the Muleriders through the following rallies, leading 16-11.
Southern Arkansas stayed close through a flurry of points, cutting SE's edge to two, 18-16, before the Storm picked up the pace again, stretching its lead to 22-18. Southeastern found match point on an ace from
Faith Kruebbe, and Mills would slam down the final point to win set three 25-21.
Southeastern (10-11, 6-5) will break from conference action and head to Oklahoma Christian on Monday, Oct. 28 for a 6 p.m. showdown.
