ST. JOSEPH, Mo. — The Oklahoma Christian Eagles snatched a five-set win by taking the final games against the Northwest Missouri State University volleyball team at the Fairfield Inn & Suites Griffon Classic.
Oklahoma Christian won by set scores of 25-17, 23-25, 20-25, 25-16 and 15-12. OCU leveled its season mark at 4-4, while Northwest dipped to 3-4 overall.Â
Northwest could not overcome OCU's seven-point start in the first set and dropped the set 25-17.
Abby Bulthuis ended the opening stretch with a kill from
Lily Zimmerman, and Northwest later got a Zimmerman ace plus kills from
Natalie Herrington,
Gabrielle Gartner and
Mya Karrick while working back to 12-8. Karrick continued to set up the offense through the middle of the set, assisting kills by
Gabrielle Gartner, Herrington,
Maddie Roenfeld and
Jada Smith as Northwest traded sideouts. OCU reached set point at 24-16, and after Herrington answered with a kill from Karrick, Leah Duncan closed the set for the visitors.
Northwest turned a 5-6 deficit into a 10-7 lead in the second set, getting a Roenfeld kill, three
Elle Heckenlively kills and a
Jada Smith service ace during the stretch. The Eagles answered to move ahead 15-12, but Northwest worked back behind kills from
Gabrielle Gartner and Roenfeld before Roenfeld's kill and service ace tied the set at 18-18. Karrick followed with a kill for a 19-18 lead, and later Herrington's kill and a Heckenlively ace pushed Northwest in front 22-20. After OCU tied the set at 23-23, Northwest scored the final two points on Eagles attack errors to finish a 25-23 set win.
The Bearcats broke open a tied third set with six straight points from 16-16 to 22-16, including five consecutive service points with Heckenlively at the line.
Gabrielle Gartner started that stretch with a kill from Karrick, and the run also included a Heckenlively ace, kills from
Jada Smith and Herrington, and another Gartner finish. Earlier, Northwest answered an OCU push to 10-7 with points from Herrington, Gartner, Smith and Karrick to pull even at 13-13, keeping the set close through 15-15. The Eagles trimmed the margin late, but Gartner put Northwest at set point and Smith closed the 25-20 set win with a kill from Karrick.
Northwest could not recover after OCU broke a 7-7 score with nine straight points, a stretch that included four Jenna McClure service aces and moved the set to 16-7. Earlier, Northwest opened with a Herrington kill and got three of its first four kills from Herrington, with Karrick assisting two of them and also setting up
Gabrielle Gartner as the teams traded points through 7-7. Gartner added two more kills after the Eagles run, and Roenfeld scored off a Karrick assist before Karrick and Roenfeld combined on a block. Facing set point at 24-13, Karrick put down a kill from
Jada Smith, Heckenlively followed with a kill from Karrick and Herrington teamed with Heckenlively on a block before OCU closed the fourth set 25-16.
Northwest erased an early 2-0 deficit in the fifth set and moved in front 5-3, getting a Heckenlively service ace, a Karrick kill from
Ellery Luhring and back-to-back
Gabrielle Gartner kills assisted by Karrick during the opening stretch. After the Eagles answered to go ahead 6-5, Roenfeld and
Jada Smith put down consecutive kills, and Smith later followed another kill with a service ace to give Northwest a 9-8 edge. The teams continued trading points to 10-10 before Summer Van Meerveld served consecutive aces for OCU, leaving Northwest facing a 12-10 deficit. Heckenlively's kill and a Kenzy McArtor attack error brought Northwest within 13-12, but the Eagles took the final two points to close the set 15-12.
Gabrielle Gartner led Northwest with 16 kills, 16 digs and 17 points. Gartner's 16 kills tied her career high. Karrick finished with 51 assists, 14 digs and five kills while hitting .333. Karrick posted her fourth double-double of the year with her performance. Heckenlively added 12 kills, three service aces and 15.5 points. She secured her fifth double-figure kill match of her career and second this season. Roenfeld recorded 10 kills on a .474 hitting percentage with seven digs, marking her first career 10-kill match.
Next Friday and Saturday, Northwest will travel to Kansas City, Mo., to face Rockhurst in a pair of matches.
