By AMAYA EVANS
Photo by Amaya Evans. Lady Rangers celebrate after scoring a point against Oklahoma Baptist University on Tuesday for Senior day ending with a NWOSU loss.
On Thursday evening, the Northwestern Oklahoma state volleyball team fell to Southern Nazarene (SNU), 3-2.
The Rangers took an early 6-1 lead over SNU to begin set one. SNU started to find their momentum and cut their deficit down to one to make it 7-6 in favor of the Rangers. With kills by Kemelly Baez Miecznikoski and Tess de Zanet, the Rangers started to punch back by making the score 9-8. With both the Rangers and SNU exchanging points, the Rangers continued to keep their 16-14 lead midway through the set. SNU used kills to continue to keep the score close, but the Rangers fought back harder, adding to their score and taking set one, 25-20.
To begin set two, the Rangers took their momentum from set one and continued it in set two, taking a 6-0 lead over SNU. The Rangers kept their streak going, extending their lead using kills by Miecznikoski, Kaylah Thomas, Ivanny Blackwood, and de Zanet and making it a 12-3 lead over SNU. SNU started to close the gap and make it a 19-12 match, but Northwestern and SNU both continued to exchange points to give the Rangers set two, 25-20.
To start set three, SNU started off with a 5-1 lead over the Rangers and continued to tack on points to extend their lead over the Rangers, making it 14-5 midway through the set. The Rangers started to fight back and cut their deficit using kills by Miecznikoski and Blackwood to make it a 19-12 game with SNU still leading. SNU continued to stay on top through the set and took set three, 25-19 over Northwestern.
Set four started off with both teams going back and forth, with SNU taking the lead 5-3 over the Rangers. Points continued to be exchanged by both teams to keep the game within one point, with SNU staying on top 9-8. SNU used kills by Hawthorne, Richardson, Wright, and Mosley to keep their lead and take set four, 25-17 over the Rangers.
Set five started with SNU jumping out to an 8-1 lead over the Rangers, with kills from Blackwood and Miecznikoski; the Rangers added to their score making it a 12-4 game. SNU did not back down and continued their fight winning set five, 15-6 and taking the match 3-2.
On Tuesday night, the Rangers had their senior day, celebrating six seniors that are part of the volleyball team.
Oklahoma Baptist and Northwestern battled back and forth, exchanging points to begin set one. Both teams continued to exchange points with the Bisons, finding some momentum taking a 15-12 lead over the Rangers midway through the set. The Rangers used kills by Tess De Zanet, Avery Lane, and Katie Wadas to keep the set withing a seven-point match with the Bisons on top 20-13. The Bison kept their momentum going and extended their lead and took set one, 25-16.
The begin set two, the Rangers took an early 4-1 lead over the Bison using kills by Lane, de Zanet and Kemelly Baez Miecznikoski. Both teams kept the match within three points, with the Rangers continuing their lead halfway through the set. The Bisons started to close the gap and fought back to a one-point match 15-14 and eventually ended up taking the momentum of the match on a 10-3 run to win set two, 25-23.
Set three started with the Bisons taking a 6-4 lead over the Rangers, and they continued to keep their lead with the Rangers keeping a close gap throughout the match. The Ragners used kills by de Zanet and Miecznikoski to keep the set within a five-point game. Both teams continued to go back and forth exchanging points with the Rangers making a small comeback and keeping the set within four. The Bison pulled it out in the end, winning the set, 25-19, and taking the match 3-0.