OKLAHOMA CITY – Oklahoma City University withstood charges from Oklahoma Baptist to secure a 28-26, 25-18, 26-24 victory Tuesday at Abe Lemons Arena.

Xiaoting Ma, a junior from Dalian, China, recorded 19 kills, 13 digs and two aces for the Stars, who improved to 15-18, 6-4 in the Sooner Athletic Conference before a season-high 500 fans. Oklahoma Baptist dropped to 24-9, 5-5.

Samantha Ball, a sophomore from Edmond, Okla., dished out 43 assists to go with eight digs, while Jeannee Campbell, a junior from San Antonio, chipped in 10 kills, four digs and three blocks for OCU. Shelbey Veselka, a junior from Boerne, Texas, picked up a match-high 23 digs.

Alex Benbrook had nine kills and five blocks, and Victoria Cross contributed 14 digs for the Stars.

“People stepped up at the right times for us,” OCU coach Jen Gomez said. “I thought we did a good job. Our blocking was better than this weekend. We got sidetracked at times, but we stayed steady and fought back.”

In the first set, OCU overcame an 18-13 deficit using Campbell's kill to tie the score 23-23. Campbell gave OCU set point No. 1 with another kill. Oklahoma Baptist's Sabra Clark was serving with set point at 26-25, but OCU rallied to get to set point again. Ball dumped an attack past Oklahoma Baptist's defense to secure the set.

In the third, Tamy Leipelt of Oklahoma Baptist served on set point, but Ball set down a kill to spark a 3-0 match-clinching OCU run. Ma's kill gave OCU the victory.

The Stars face St. Gregory's at 7 p.m. Friday in Shawnee, Okla.
OCU-OBU stats