ARKADELPHIA, Ark. – On the final day of action at the Reddie-Tiger Invitational, Southeastern Oklahoma State splits day two's set of matches after sweeping Montevallo in the final contest of the day.
"I'm proud of how we handled ourselves on day two of the tournament. Had we played this way yesterday, I think we would have had a different outcome," head coach
Nicole Solum-Mitchell said. "We played with more grit and passion, and I'm proud of the way we bounced back. This was a complete team effort this weekend, and we are excited for the next opportunity to play."
Pacing the attack,
D'Nari Mills posted 32 kills over the two contests and saw her third double-double of the tournament in the first match with 15 kills and 13 digs.
Ruthie Forson dished out a team-high 62 assists on the day and added 17 kills and 13 digs to her totals. Forson notched her first triple-double of the year against Missouri S&T with 34 assists, 13 kills, and ten digs.
At the net,
Michera Moffett racked up 4.0 total blocks in the win over Montevallo and saw 12 kills over the two contests, while
Amaya Constantino combined for 37 digs, including a team-high 20 against Missouri S&T.
MATCH ONE: MS&T 3, SE 2
SET ONE
Missouri S&T was quick out of the gates in the opening frame, racing ahead to a 12-4 lead. The Savage Storm would find their footing on a 4-0 burst to trim the Miners edge to 12-8, but another flurry of points by Missouri S&T saw them re-establish its advantage, 22-11 after a 6-0 run. S&T closed out the frame with the final three points to win the set 25-12.
SET TWO
Little separated the two teams in the first rallies of the second frame, as Southeastern held a two-point advantage, 10-8. Two kills by Mills and another from Moffett saw the Storm stretch their lead to 14-8, and a kill by Forson would extend the team's advantage to 16-10.
Two more points came off the hand of Forson on a kill and service ace to give SE its largest lead of the set at seven points, but Missouri S&T would roar back on a 6-0 run to cut the Storm's edge to one, 19-18. Moffett and Mills combined in the final stages of the frame to hold off the Miners' late rally, as Southeastern won the set 25-22.
SET THREE
Southeastern dominated from the first point to the last in set three after starting the frame with a 9-3 advantage. SE continued to add points in burst, stretching its lead to 12-4 and later 15-6 after back-to-back aces from Moffett.
Noelia Rocha heated up in the following rallies, slamming down three straight kills in a 7-0 run to make it 22-7. Southeastern closed out the dominant set with kills by
Maci Morrison and Mills to win the frame 25-11.
SET FOUR
Southeastern and Missouri S&T traded blows to start the set before the Miners found the first breakthrough on a 6-0 run to lead 13-6. The Storm replied with a flurry of points of their own, outscoring S&T 7-to-1 in the following exchanges, featuring three straight kills by Forson to cut the Miners lead to one, 16-15.
Missouri S&T picked up the scoring again on a 4-0 burst to establish a five-point edge. The Miners would hold this advantage for the rest of the set, as they evened the match 2-2 with a 25-19 set victory.
SET FIVE
The Storm kept close with Missouri S&T in the final frame, with the set seeing four ties in the first 14 points. Rocha and
Alaina Armstrong would give the Storm its first lead of the frame, 10-8, with back-to-back kills. The score was locked again at 11-all and later 12-12, but a late 3-0 run by Missouri S&T would provide the Miners the victory, winning the final frame 15-13.
MATCH TWO: SE 3, UM 0
SET ONE
SE held the lead to start the opening frame, following kills by Rocha, Moffett and Forson, who combined to make it 6-2. Rocha continued to see the ball well, slamming down back-to-back kills to extend the Storm's edge before another three kills by Mills made it 14-9. The Storm continued to hold this gap through the next seven points, leading 22-16, but a quick burst of points by the Falcons cut the lead to three, 22-19.
Southeastern found three of the next four points in the set from kills by Mills and Forson and an attack error by Montevall to secure the first set 25-20.
SET TWO
The Falcons opened the scoring in set two, but after that, it was all Southeastern, as the Storm put together a 7-0 run before back-to-back aces by Moffett stretched SE's advantage to 13-5. From there, the two teams traded points, with the Storm continuing to hold a four-to-five-point margin over UM.
Montevallo put some pressure on Southeastern late in the set, scoring four consecutive points to trim the gap to 24-21, but the Storm would find the final point to win the frame 25-21.
SET THREE
Southeastern and Montevallo were tied up 7-all at the start of the frame before the Storm took an 11-7 lead after Morrison capped off a 4-0 run with a kill. UM stayed within two to three points of the Storm and would come within one on a 3-0 run, as SE led 18-17. The Storm closed out the frame with four straight points to complete the sweep over the Falcons in a 25-20 set victory.
Southeastern Oklahoma State (1-3, 0-0 GAC) is back in action on Sept. 13 and 14 at the Dr. Steve Alcinena "Iceman" Invitational, hosted by Texas-Permian Basin. The Storm will play three matches over the two days, starting with contests against UTPB and Sul Ross State on Friday, Sept. 13.
