OKLAHOMA CITY – Oklahoma City University fell to defeat at the hands of Arkansas-Fort Smith 25-21, 25-11, 23-25, 25-9 on Thursday night at Abe Lemons Arena.

Xiaoting Ma, a junior from Dalian, China, led the Stars (6-12) with 10 kills and 13 digs on the night.

Sophomores Samantha Ball and Vicky Murphy combined for 27 assists for the Oklahoma City squad. Alex Benbrook had seven kills and a team-high five blocks, while Taylor Rowton added four blocks. Ma also had four blocks.

OCU started slow in the first set, but tied it up at 17-17 after a service ace by Murphy late in the action. It was a see-saw match for the remainder of the first set until the Lady Lions' Heidi Luks took the serve and didn't relinquish it for the final three points of the set.

In the second set, Arkansas-Fort Smith had three occasions of five or more straight points, including three service aces from Lucia Najselova toward the end of the set to lock up this second-set victory.

The Stars rallied behind their raucous crowd and took the third set, 25-23. Benbrook and Rowton combined for blocks on back-to-back points to tie the set at 23-all. Then, a final service ace by Victoria Cross ended the set.

In the fourth, OCU fell behind 10-4 and failed to overcome the deficit. Arkansas-Fort Smith hit .457 in the final set, winning 25-9 to hand the Stars their fourth consecutive defeat.

Oklahoma City will be back in action Friday at 7 p.m. to face Lubbock Christian (Texas) at Abe Lemons Arena.
OCU-AFS Stats