SHAWNEE, Oklahoma – Ouachita Baptist University Volleyball picked up its first GAC Tournament win since 2018 in dramatic fashion, taking down fifth seed East Central in five sets and advance to the GAC Tournament semifinals.
The set scores were 27-25, 25-20, 16-25, 23-35 and 15-12.
The Tigers had three scorers reach double-digit kills, led by
Haley Fairchild who racked up 17 kills on a .351 hitting percentage. She was followed closely by GAC Freshman of the Year
Riley Braziel who had 16.
Kayla Steinmeyer was next with 10 kills.
Four Tigers put up double-digit points as well, led by Fairchild with 17.5 and followed by Braziel with 16, Steinmeyer with 11 and
Emily Adams with 10.
Two Tigers recorded double doubles tonight:
Riley Braziel with 16 kills and 11 digs and
Courtney Hanson with 45 assists and 18 digs.
Emily Adams paced led the front-line defense with four blocks. Next was
Karli Ferguson and Steinmeyer who each recorded two.
Lexie Castillow led the defenders with 27 digs. Hanson was next with 18,
Joni Schneider was right behind with 17 and Braziel had 11.
With those 27 digs, Castillow joined the 2,000 career digs club and climbed to third on the Ouachita all-time career digs list.
Also reaching a career milestone in the victory was
Courtney Hanson, whose 45 assists pushed her passed the 1,000 assist mark on the season.
The Tigers try to keep their hot streak alive as they take on the Harding Bisons in the semifinals tomorrow night at 5:00pm.
