DURANT, Okla. – Southeastern battled East Central in four sets Tuesday evening in Bloomer Sullivan Gym, but the Tigers got the upper hand in a 3-1 defeat.
 
The Savage Storm had two players reach double-digit kills, led by Nykeriah Allen with 12, while Gabby Jones chipped in 10. Jasmin Dion dished out 40 assists and added seven digs to her totals, and Patience Lewis led the side with 20 digs.
 
SE (5-8, 0-2 GAC) heads north to Alva, Okla., on Thursday to face Northwestern Oklahoma State in the next round of GAC matches at 6 p.m.
 
SET ONE
The first set featured a back-and-forth start with two ties and a pair of lead changes before the blue and gold rattled off five straight points to take a 9-5 lead. ECU replied with a run of scores to tie the frame 12-all, and they continued to remain close, locked at 16-all and later 19-19. The Tigers soon found momentum late with a flurry of scores to go ahead 23-22 and would hold off a late Storm push to win the set 25-22.
 
SET TWO
Like the first set, SE and ECU matched each other in scoring, as the two sides were tied six times at 11-11. The Tigers looked to grab the advantage at 16-14, but the Storm answered with a 6-0 flurry to retake the lead 20-16. Southeastern stayed on the front foot, as they extended the run to 11-1, and closed out the set with five straight points, capped off by a kill by Anger Ngeth to take the second set 25-17.  
 
SET THREE
Southeastern and East Central traded runs to start the third set, as ECU jumped to a 3-0 lead before SE took the lead 5-3 behind a 5-0 run featuring back-to-back aces by Lewis. From there, the set saw three lead changes, as the Tigers jumped ahead 17-13. The Storm continued to battle, closing the gap to one, 19-18 on a kill by Ngeth, and would chain together four straight points to reach set point at 25-24. However, the Tiger roared back, scoring the next three points to claim the set 27-25.
 
SET FOUR
SE and ECU matched each other in scoring to begin the final frame, with the two sides tied at 8-8. The Tigers were the first to break the deadlock, taking a 13-9 lead and soon stretched their advantage to 20-14. SE used a 4-0 run to trim the lead to three, 23-20, but the Tigers would not surrender their lead, winning the final set 25-21.