OKLAHOMA CITY – Oklahoma City moved into a fifth-place tie after its 3-1 Sooner Athletic Conference volleyball victory over Oklahoma Panhandle State on Saturday.
 
The Stars won 25-23, 20-25, 25-23, 25-22 to pick up their fifth consecutive win and move to 12-10 overall and 7-5 in the SAC. The Stars are tied with Mid-America Christian for fifth and just a game behind Wayland Baptist and OPSU.
 
Leading by a single point late, the Stars got kills by Natalie Adams and Grace Smallwood to make it a 24-21 lead. The Aggies scored the next two points before Erin Mack ended the drama with a kill.
 
After OPSU evened the sets at 1-1, OCU fell behind in the third set, 8-1. The Stars got back in with defense as Kaylie Marshall, Marina Kalajdzic and Mack got together for three blocks during an 8-2 run to narrow the gap to 10-9. Kills by Marshall and Maddie Edwards saw OCU take its first lead on a 3-0 run for a 12-11 advantage.
 
The Aggies got the lead back and led 21-17, but the Stars pieced together a 5-1 run to tie the score at 22-22. After slipping behind 23-22, Edwards added two kills and Smallwood closed it out with a third for the victory.
 
OCU trailed by as many as five points in the fourth set but two kills by Mack and a Smallwood ace evened the score at 14-14. Smallwood would later close the match with a kill.
 
Smallwood led OCU with 20 kills, followed by Edwards with 13, Marshall with 12 and Mack with 11. Adams finished the day with 49 assists. Smallwood had a team-high three aces.
 
Defensively, Kalajdzic led with four blocks up front while four players had double-figure digs. Ryan Leland had 25 digs, followed by Kate Cleofe with 21, Smallwood with 16 and Adams with 11.
 
The Stars hit the road next week with matches Friday at Texas Wesleyan and Saturday at Nelson.