OKLAHOMA CITY - The Oklahoma City volleyball team suffer its first conference loss and drop its third consecutive match after falling in three sets to SAGU at home on Friday night. 

Score    

SW Assemblies of God 3, Oklahoma City 0   

• Oklahoma City (5-5, 4-1 SAC)   
• SAGU (8-5, 5-0 SAC)   

Match Summary    

Set 1: 25-21 (SAGU)   

Set 2: 25-19 (SAGU)   

Set 3: 25-16 (SAGU)   

Set 1   

Right from the first serve, the beginning of the first set went back and forth changing leads eight times as OCU took a 6-5 lead on a kill from Michela De Stefano. SAGU came back with a 4-0 run capped off with an attack from Lindi Boling to give the Lions a 9-6 lead. SAGU stretched its lead out to 18-11, the largest lead of the set, however, the Stars caught fire, scoring six in a row with three kills coming from De Stefano as well as Ruby Kelley getting in the mix. With the Stars trailing by one, the Lions scored the next four points over six possessions to take a 23-20 lead. Emma Nickerson cut the lead down to two with a kill but SAGU finished off the first set by taking advantage of a service error and an attack error to win 25-21. 

Set 2  

Looking to get back into the match OCU started the second set with the first three points whereas SAGU fought right back and scored the next four to go ahead 4-3. A 5-0 run for the Stars put OCU back up front as Kelley and Nickerson led the way to push the Stars lead out to 8-5. SAGU tied the set for the first time since it was 5-5 with the score now being 13-13 off of an ace from Boling. Leading 18-17 OCU needed to find a way to finish off the set in its favor. SAGU however got out to a big run and finished the second set on a 8-1 run with five serves coming from Madison Petten as Karena Tipton and Lilly Hanna finished things off with kills to win set two by a score of 25-18. 

Set 3   

Looking to avoid being swept OCU saw themselves down 5-2 early on before hitting its stride and going on a 7-0 run with two aces from Kelley and a pair of kills from De Stefano. OCU was able to maintain through the middle of the set as the score sat at 14-12. SAGU once again went on another one of its runs as the Lions tallied up 11 points in a row, taking all of the momentum away from OCU and taking a 23-14 lead. Facing its largest deficit of the match Oklahoma City scored two more points on kills from Nickerson and Kelley, but the SAGU lead was just too much as Mackenzie Smith clinched the victory for the Lions on a kill to win the third set 25-16 and earn the sweep over the Stars.   

Game Notes   

• Oklahoma City fell short of SAGU in kills as OCU tallied up 29 kills to SAGU's 39. SAGU also had the advantage in aces with eight to OCU's three.  
• The Lions put on a strong defensive showing with nine blocks and 60 digs to the Stars three blocks and 48 digs.  
• Ruby Kelley led the Stars and tied the match high in kills with nine, followed by Michela De Stefano with eight, and Emma Nickerson with five.  
• Once again Natalie Adams led the match in assists with 23 as Kaitlyn Dunlap and Rylee Steward each had two.  
• Jaiden Downey collected 12 digs, tying her season-high previously set against Carroll on Aug. 26. Adams came in right behind Downey with 11 digs, as Dunlap fell in behind with eight.  
• Tonight's matchup was only the second time the Stars have been swept by SAGU in the history of the series going back to Oct. 29, 2013.  
• Oklahoma City still owns a commanding lead in the series between the two schools as OCU leads 20-7 despite SAGU winning the last three consecutive meetings and four of the last five games.  

NEXT GAME 

The Stars will have another big Sooner Athletic Conference battle with Texas Wesleyan, the preseason number two in the conference. OCU will have a chance to get back on the winning track at 1 PM inside Abe Lemons Arena.