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Box Score 2
KISSIMMEE, Fla. – Southern Wesleyan volleyball picked up a pair of wins on the first day of pool play action at the NCCAA National Tournament, defeating the #5 seed Oklahoma Wesleyan University 3-0 and #8 Houghton 3-0. The tournament is being played at Kissimmee Civic Center.
The Warriors will return to the court Friday morning at 10 a.m. against #1 seed Trinity Christian. SWU entered the tournament as the #4 seed.
Oklahoma Wesleyan Match (W, 3-0: 25-17, 25-8, 25-23)
The Warriors took an early lead in set one, scoring seven of the first ten points to lead 7-3 early on. The Lady Eagles rallied to tie the match at 12-12 but the Warriors rattled off four straight as Megan Widener, Alysia Cruell and Cherilyn Ramsey all provided a kill during the run.
That 4-0 spurt forced a timeout by the Lady Eagles but it didn't end the run for the Warriors. After OKWU's Daniela Pena picked up a kill out of the timeout, the Warriors took seven of the next eight points to lead 23-14.
After taking nearly two weeks off from their last match the Warriors offense came out strong, hitting .250 in the first set. SWU finished the match with a .236 attack percentage while the Lady Eagles came in at just an .048 clip.
In the second set the Warriors again jumped out to an early lead with five of the first six points. Oklahoma Wesleyan hurt themselves in the set with 12 attack errors and a negative .300 hitting percentage. SWU needed just eight kills in the set to come away with the dominating win.
The third set proved to be the closest all day, with the Warriors edging out the Lady Eagles 25-23. SWU needed a big comeback to earn their 18th sweep of the season. Oklahoma Wesleyan turned a 9-9 set into a 16-10 advantage as the attack came back from the difficult second set with their best performance of the match, a .167 attack with 14 kills.
After the Lady Eagles pushed their lead to 19-12 on a kill from Alejandra Rivas the Warriors started their comeback. Three kills, one each from Sarah Hughey, Cruell and Ramsey, along with three errors from the Lady Eagles shrunk the lead to one at 19-18. After two straight went to Oklahoma Wesleyan the Warriors took three straight to even the set at 21-21.
After a timeout, Oklahoma Wesleyan took two of three points and led 23-22 but the Warriors finished strong. A kill from Jacinta Hoffpauir knotted the set at 23-23. Courtney Williams finished off the set with a solo block and a kill to give the Warriors the straight sets victory.
The offense was very balanced in the match as no player reached double digits in kills. Hughey led the way with eight kills and hit .269 while Cruell added seven kills and a .238 attack. Ramsey chipped in with six kills while Hoffpauir and Widener each had five. Williams finished with four kills and led the team with four solo blocks and two block assists.
Three players did notch double figures in digs led by Widener's 14. She also added a match-high 24 assists for her 11th double-double of the season. Courtney O'Brien added 13 digs while Milica Stamenic provided 10.
Houghton Match (W, 3-0 - 25-21, 25-15, 25-15)
The Warriors built a big 14-6 lead early in set one before fending off a rally from the Highlanders that saw Houghton close the gap to 22-21. After a timeout by the Warriors, SWU picked up three straight kills, one each from Courtney Williams, Jacinta Hoffpauir and Sarah Hughey.
Houghton built a 9-4 advantage in the second set, using the momentum from the end of the first set, but this time it was the Warriors who rallied. SWU rattled of six straight to take a 10-9 lead. After Houghton got a side out, the Warriors took six more in a row to lead 16-11. Another 5-0 run essentially closed the door on the set as the Warriors led 23-12 and wound up winning 25-15.
SWU continued their dominance in the third, taking the first six points before Houghton was forced to take a timeout to end the rally. The Highlanders took five of six to close to within two at 7-5. The teams traded points before the Warriors broke open a 16-13 set with four straight to lead 20-13. After back-to-back points by the Highlanders the Warriors closed the set with five straight capped off by a kill from Hoffpauir.
Hoffpauir was the story on the offensive side in this one, tallying a match-high 13 kills to go along with a her .423 attack percentage. The Warriors hit .517 in the third set and recorded 18 kills in that set alone. Houghton finished the entire match with just 22 kills, hitting .091.
Sarah Hughey also reached double figures with 10 kills and hit .444. Alysia Cruell added six kills with her match-high 18 digs. Cherilyn Ramsey chipped in with 13 digs and seven kills. Megan Widener racked up 42 assists, seven digs, four kills and three blocks.
