In a Tuesday night “Battle of the Storms” rivalry match at Bloomer Sullivan Gymnasium, Southeastern Oklahoma State University came back from an opening set loss to take a 3-1 victory over Southern Nazarene University. This secured their first Great American Conference win of the season.
D’Nari Mills, two consecutive GAC Offensive Player of the Week, continued her streak of 20-plus kills for the sixth consecutive match, leading the group with 22 kills.
Noelia Rocha and Sandra Acheampong added 11 and nine kills, respectively, as well as four blocks each.
Amaya Constantino delivered 21 digs, leading the defense. Mills added another 20 digs and Patience Lewis secured the third spot with 10 digs.
Avynn La Rose, middle blocker and senior on the volleyball team, expressed her excitement about the team’s performance.
“We performed very well and kept our own errors to a minimum.” La Rose said. “We kept a high level of energy the entire game despite some moments here and there.”
The opening set saw Southeastern trailing early, conceding the set to SNU with a score of 25-21. The Savage Storm regrouped and stormed back in the second set, led by Mills, who contributed eight kills. They secured a 25-18 win, evening the match at 1-1.
Going into the third set, Southeastern displayed dominance, with an impressive .500 hit as a team. They had two 6-0 runs, seizing control and winning 25-10, taking a 2-1 lead.
In the final set, the Savage Storm had an early lead, but the Crimson Storm closed the gap. However, Rocha, Mills, and Acheampong all delivered critical kills, leading the Savage Storm to clinch the set 25-19, securing a 3-1 victory.
Looking ahead, La Rose also shared her thoughts about the upcoming match at Southwestern Oklahoma State University.
“Going into the next team our team is focusing on keeping a high level of intensity while continuing to minimize our errors. SWOSU is a very skilled team and has three girls who are in the top 50 in NCAA D2 for blocking.
“We have many new faces this season but also have several returners. We can’t wait to show the team culture we’ve built and our skills.”
