Goodwell, Okla. - The Oklahoma City Stars volleyball team finished off its conference opening weekend with a sweep over Oklahoma Panhandle State starting off SAC play in the right direction.  

Score  

Oklahoma City 3, Oklahoma Panhandle State 0 

• Oklahoma City (3-2, 2-0)  
• Oklahoma Panhandle State (0-4, 0-2) 

Match Summary  

Set 1: 25-22 (OCU)  

Set 2: 25-21 (OCU)  

Set 3: 25-12 (OCU)  

Set 1  

OCU got out to a lead early in the first set and maintained it up until the Aggies gained their first lead of 9-8 on a kill by Mia Sanders. The Stars refused to let OPSU hold the lead any longer as OCU went on a 9-3 run thanks to back-to-back aces by the freshman from McKinney, Texas Jaiden Downey. OPSU tried to get back into tightening the lead to as little as three however the Stars attack was just too much for the Aggies with kills from Michela De Stefano, Marina Kalajdzic, and a pair of kills from the all-American Rylee Steward to end the set, and give the Stars a 25-22 victory.  

Set 2  

In the second set, Oklahoma City caught an early lead and pushed it to as high as 14-7 thanks to a big attack from Kalajdzic followed by an attack error on Ava Newby for OPSU. The Aggies found their way back into the set coming within a point of OCU at 17-16. Back-to-back kills by Kalajdzic and a kill from Steward gave OCU a 20-17 lead with all of the momentum. Oklahoma City finished the second set on a 5-3 run as Rylee Winkler notched the set-winning kill giving OCU a 25-21 set win.  

Set 3  

OPSU jumped out of the third set to a strong start taking a 6-5 lead. A four-point swing for the Stars gave OCU its first lead of the set with kills from Steward and Kalajdzic making it 9-6 in favor of the Stars. Since then, OCU held control the rest of the way going on a 9-0 run with four aces from Kaitlyn Dunlap capped off with a kill from Michela De Stefano. With a lead of 21-9, the cruise control was set as Steward and Emma Nickerson slammed the door shut with back-to-back kills, clinching the sweep with a 25-12 win in set three.  

Game Notes  

Oklahoma City held the edge with 40 kills to the Aggies 22. OCU also set a season high OCU notched seven aces, five blocks, 39 assists, and 53 digs.  

Rylee Steward and Ruby Kelley led all players in kills with nine each followed by Michela De Stefano with seven.  

Kaitlyn Dunlap set a new career five aces surpassing last year's total of three which came at John Brown on Nov. 8.  

Natalie Adams led the charge with another big assist total of 33 making it her third-highest total of the season so far.  

This afternoon's match was the 15th all-time meeting between the two conference opponents as OCU swept the Aggies for the 11th time bringing the series record to 13-2.  

NEXT GAME 

The Stars make their home debut on Wednesday, Sept. 6 against John Brown out of Siloam Springs, Ark. The match will take place inside Abe Lemons Arena as OCU will look to get its 30th win all-time over the Golden Eagles.