Volleyball Team Wins Pair

September 6, 2006

Weatherford, OK - Southwestern Oklahoma State’s volleyball team came up with the big points in critical stretches and pulled a much needed sweep over visiting Texas Wesleyan and Wayland Baptist University in a triangular matchup Tuesday in Weatherford.

The wins lifted the Bulldogs overall record to 3-8 and gives coach Bo Pagliasotti’s team some extra energy before they begin a three-game set at the Lone Star /Heartland Conference Crossover Tournament this weekend in Wichita Falls, Texas.

The Bulldogs needed four games but got past TWU in a tight first match 31-29, 30-28, 27-30, 30-21. Tennessee Brown (Jr., MB, Peaster, Texas) and Kasandra Gurtner (Jr., MB, Cimarron, Kan.) combined for 28 of SWOSU’s 49 total kills in the match.

SWOSU breezed to an easy win in game four thanks in part to a fast start in which saw them race to a 21-8 lead. TWU never got within nine points which ended as the final margin.

In the second match against WBU, SWOSU swept the Pioneers in three straight 30-23, 30-28, 30-28. Ashley Claud (So., OH, Fayetteville, Ark.) and Paula Harry (Jr., OH, Australia) had eight kills each while Staci West (So., OH, Collinsville) added seven.

In the second game, SWOSU trailed 28-26 before igniting late with four straight points capped off by an emphatic kill by Brown that brought a roar of approval from the crowd. The Bulldogs again found themselves trailing late by a score of 25-23. Claud then came through with an open-court kill and the Bulldogs outscored the Pioneers 7-3 down the stretch for the win.

SWOSU will next play Oklahoma Panhandle State, a team they beat three times last year in the first game of the LSC/Heartland Crossover Tournament on Friday. The Bulldogs will then meet St. Mary’s later that Friday before concluding the tournament with a Saturday afternoon matchup against Montana State-Billings.

The next home game for SWOSU is Thursday, Sept. 14 against Southeastern Oklahoma State at 7 p.m.