PLAINVIEW, Texas - The Oklahoma City volleyball team dropped Saturday's contest in five sets after Wayland Baptist stormed back with three straight set victories to split the season-series in 2024. 

Wayland Baptist 3, Oklahoma City 2
Set 1: 25-22 (OCU)
Set 2: 25-21 (OCU)
Set 3: 25-22 (WBU)
Set 4: 25-18 (WBU)

STAT OF THE MATCH: Ruby Kelley held a team-high 22 kills which set a new a season-high for the Stars senior as Kelley notched her seventh double-double of the season as she tallied 16 digs with two aces. 

THE RUNDOWN

Set 1
Trailing 7-6, OCU saw its first run of four consecutive points come after Rylee Steward delivered her first kill of the night. Once taking its lead OCU never looked after stretching its lead to 14-9 after kills by Bailey Lowder and Ruby Kelley. After a Pioneer timeout, Wayland Baptist tabbed a 5-1 run to cut the deficit back down to one right before OCU matched with a 5-1 run of its own as Grace Smallwood got into the mix with a kill helping the Stars to an advantage of 20-15. Once again, Wayland was clicking after coming out of a timeout going off for four points in a row bringing the Stars lead back to just one again. Wayland's momentum continued after tying it up at 22 all leading to Kristen Coventon calling a timeout. Out of the meeting, Oklahoma City fired away with three straight as Kelley and Maddie Edwards notched back-to-back kills to win the set 25-22. 

Set 2
Oklahoma City opened up with an 8-1 run as Kelley and Steward added one kill each to get out to an 8-3 lead. Leading 12-5, Wayland continued its trend of crawling back with six points in a row before using another stretch of five straight to take its first lead of the set at 17-16. Oklahoma City regained the lead with five consecutive points as Erin Mack jumped into the mix with a kill of her own. Tied back up at 21, OCU finished things off with four straight scores as an ace from Kelley capped off the second set at 25-21. 

Set 3
Erin Mack garnered a pair of kills early before Wayland a lead of 6-5 after a 4-1 run. Oklahoma City took its biggest lead of 21-17 after a 12-4 run as Kelley added three kills along with two from Smallwood. With OCU leading 22-18, Wayland Baptist flipped the switch scoring the final seven points of the set as Fade Ogunbade led the Pioneers with two kills during that span as the Pioneers stayed alive with a 25-22 win. 

Set 4
The fourth set saw Wayland get out to a 7-3 lead and eventually stretching it out to 11-5 as Selma Sutaj and Ogunbade continued to pose as threats to the Stars. The Pioneers continued to impose its will reaching its biggest lead nine points before OCU turned things around with a 6-2 run as Kelley supplied three kills to get the Stars back in it. Oklahoma City was only able to cut the deficit to a little as four points as Wayland Baptist closed things out on a 5-2 run as service error by OCU ended the set at 25-18 which forced a fifth set. 

Set 5
Both teams opened three straight points of their own as Wayland tallied the first three followed by the freshman pairing of Erin Mack and Bailey Lowder adding kills to help tie things up at 3-3. Wayland used a 5-1 run to go up four points before OCU found its way back after back-to-back kills by Lowder which knotted it back up at 12 apiece. The Pioneers went on to score on back-to-back possessions before OCU was able to match it on two straight kills by Ruby Kelley. Tied at 15-15 after Mack saved match point, the Pioneers finished off the comeback after Sutaj provided two kills in a row to end it 17-15. 

Game Notes

• Oklahoma City sees its three-game winning streak come to an end as the Stars go to 10-11 overall and 10-5 in conference play. 
• The Stars move to 1-1 in five-set matches this season after OCU earned the five-set win last Saturday over College of the Ozarks. 
• Oklahoma City tallied its third-highest kill count of the season with 55 compared to the Pioneers total of 51. 
• Wayland Baptist had a big day defensively with 11 blocks, the second most against the Stars this season. 
• Oklahoma City held a 99-95 advantage in digs which set a new season-high as a team surpassing its previous total of 94 set against John Brown on Sept. 7.
• Natalie Adams and Jaiden Downey both tied each other for a game-high of 26 assists combining for 52 of the 53 Stars assists. 
• Adams tabs her fourth straight game with 20 or more assists while Downey earns her second double-double of the year after notching 12 digs. 
• Joeci Hunt came away with a team-high 21 digs, tying her second-highest total of the season while Grace Smallwood set a season-best of 19 digs. 
• Oklahoma City and Wayland Baptist split the season-series after OCU swept the Pioneers inside Abe Lemons Arena back on Sept. 13 as the all-time series record moves to 25-17 in favor of the Stars. 

Up Next
Oklahoma City will have a full week at home starting on Tuesday night for a midweek contest against Southwestern Christian at 6:00 PM.

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