OKLAHOMA CITY - The Oklahoma City volleyball team avoided being swept by putting together a miraculous comeback on Saturday fighting their way back to win in five sets while two Stars had double-double performances. 

Oklahoma City 3, College of the Ozarks 2

Set 1: 25-22 (COO)
Set 2: 25-22 (COO)
Set 3: 25-21 (OCU)
Set 4: 26-24 (OCU)
Set 5: 15-11 (OCU)

STAR OF THE SHOW: Rylee Steward delivered 15 kills to set a new season-high as the Stars senior surpassed her previous high of 13 set on Sept. 21 against Langston. Steward came away with game-high four blocks, tying her second-highest total of the year. 

THE RUNDOWN

Set 1
Ruby Kelley gave Oklahoma City its first two points on a pair of kills as both sides took turns holding the lead before the Bobcats went on a 6-1 run to take a 9-5 lead. OCU continued to cut into the Ozarks lead multiple times in the set seeing three different times where the Stars trailed by only two after three straight points were capped off on a kill by Maddie Edwards that made it 23-21 in favor of the opposition. Kelley provided her fifth kill of the set before College of the Ozarks was able to clinch set point and win 25-22. 

Set 2
College of the Ozarks opened the second set with a kill from Bri Linehan before OCU went for four consecutive points as Kelley added two more kills. The Bobcats turned right back around with a 7-1 run taking the lead for good with an 8-5 advantage over Oklahoma City. OCU made its way back trailing by only one after a kill by Grace Smallwood, however College of the Ozarks took its biggest lead of the set after a 4-1 run to go up 18-14. Oklahoma City was unable to score on back-to-back possessions for the rest of the way as Ozarks won its second set by the same score of 25-22. 

Set 3
Having to win the third set to keep themselves alive Oklahoma City took its biggest lead at 17-13 after a 5-1 run where Kelley supplied a pair of kills while Bailey Lowder, Erin Mack and Steward all got into the mix as well. After an Ozarks timeout the Stars kept their foot on the gas extending its lead to 20-15 after Steward and Lowder continued to play a major factor for OCU. The Bobcats came racing back with four straight points of their own cutting the deficit to just one. OCU went on to close out the set on a 5-2 run as Kelley and Edwards shut it down with kills to stay alive with a 25-21 victory. 

Set 4
College of the Ozarks opened with a 3-1 before Oklahoma City scored four in a row off kills by Kelley, Smallwood and Mack. The Bobcats brushed the Stars run right off with five straight points of their own while taking the lead up to 13-8 forcing an OCU timeout. The Stars went out and regained the lead for the first time since leading 5-4 after Stars freshman Bailey Lowder came in and made her precense felt helping the Stars to an 18-16 advantage. From that point on the rest of the set saw seven ties and four lead changes as Kelley delivered the kill to put the Stars on top 25-24 while Natalie Adams served the set clinching ace to earn the 26-24 victory forcing a fifth and final set. 

Set 5
Bailey Lowder continued to shine as the freshman opened the last set with a kill that put the Stars on top once and for all. Despite there being three ties before the two teams changed benches, Oklahoma City used a 5-1 run to take an 11-7 lead after kills by Kelley and Steward. The Bobcats could not come any closer than three as Kelley finished things off with her 18th kill of the match to complete the heroic comeback by winning 15-11 in five. 

Game Notes

• With the win, Oklahoma City completes a perfect weekend and moves to 9-10 overall and 9-4 in conference play. 
• Saturday's match was the first time all season Oklahoma City has played in five sets as the Stars are 4-4 this season in matches that go beyond three sets. 
• Ruby Kelley held a match-high of 18 kills which set a season-high after passing her previous number of 17 set against Oklahoma Panhandle State on Sept. 14. 
• Grace Smallwood earned her sixth double-double of the season after posting 13 kills and 17 digs. 
• Natalie Adams led the match by setting a season-high of 32 assists which surpassed her previous high of 31 coming back on Aug. 17 against College of Saint Mary. Adams tallied three service aces which led match while also clinched a season-high for the Stars sophomore. 
• Jaiden Downey claimed the first double-double of her career by tying a season-high of 23 assists while also tying a season-high with 11 digs. 
• Kaitlyn Dunlap finished with a team-high 21 digs, her third-highest total of the season. 
• Freshman Bailey Lowder posted double-digit kills for the first time this season setting a career-high of 10 kills.
• As a team, the Stars came away with season-highs in kills (70) and assists (63) while having six aces and six blocks. 
• The win gives Oklahoma City the season-sweep over College of the Ozarks and sqaures up the all-time series record at 4-4.

Up Next
It's back on the road next weekend for Oklahoma City as the Stars travel out west to take on Oklahoma Panhandle State on Friday night at 6:00 PM.

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