Volleyball 8/31/2014 10:52:00 PM

Stars finish unbeaten in Kansas Wesleyan Invitational

OCU posts first 4-0 start since 2007

Kristen Macy supplied the Stars with her first double-double of 2014 against Briar Cliff.

Box Score 1 | Box Score 2
SALINA, Kan. – Oklahoma City University moved to 4-0 on the season with a 25-22, 25-21, 25-11 victory over Friends (Kan.) on Sunday at the Mabee Arena in the Kansas Wesleyan Invitational.
The Stars dealt Briar Cliff (Iowa) its first loss of the year with a 27-29, 25-14, 25-22, 25-22 win earlier Sunday.
Oklahoma City's last 4-0 start happened in 2007. OCU hadn't gone unbeaten in a regular-season tournament since going 3-0 in the Oklahoma Baptist Tournament on Sept. 17-18, 2010.
The Stars' Taylor Chase and Meghan Irwin took all-tournament honors as voted on by the coaches in the tournament.
"It was pleasing for me to watch us win four matches in four different ways," OCU coach Kyle Steele said. "We just let the games come to us and took what was available. Players stepped up when we needed them to. I had to go deep into the bench at times to sustain our level of play, so it is a positive when I know I can rely on everyone to come in and make plays."
Against Briar Cliff, Irwin topped Oklahoma City with 19 kills and six blocks. Irwin, a senior from Arlington, Texas, hit .600 as she committed only one error in 30 attacks.
Kristen Macy added 14 kills and 12 digs, and Rachel Gabel posted 13 kills and 13 digs for the Stars. Chase accumulated 45 assists, five kills and three blocks, while Kelley Shiels scooped a career-high 20 digs. Shiels, a senior from Edmond, Okla., surpassed her previous single-match high of 14 against St. Gregory's on Oct. 16, 2012.
The Stars rallied from dropping the first set to take the second one. In the second set, OCU scored six consecutive points to increase its lead to 24-12. Heather Watson served up an ace, while Macy nailed three kills. Gabel's kill brought the Stars the second-set win.
In the third set, OCU erased a 21-20 deficit with Irwin's back-to-back kills. Irwin pounded a kill to bring up set point, and Gabel clinched the set with a kill. Irwin hammered a kill that sewed up the victory.
Against Friends, Macy, a sophomore from Edmond, Okla., socked 12 kills, while Irwin had 11 kills and three blocks. Chase, a junior from Yukon, Okla., recorded 30 assists and two aces, and Gabel, a junior from Richardson, Texas, added 10 digs.
OCU meets Missouri Valley at 3 p.m. Friday in the Evangel Tournament in Springfield, Mo.

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