SAN ANTONIO – Oklahoma City University split a pair of 3-0 matches to open the season on Friday, beating host Our Lady of the Lake before losing to No. 24 William Carey.
 
"I'm very proud of the way that we fought today," said OCU Head Coach Kristen Coventon. "Our Lady of the Lake is a good team. They've gotten the best of us the last few years so it was nice to fight and finish that match. William Carey is a national tournament team and a nationally ranked team that we played really hard against. Their ball control and scrappiness on defense was incredible. I thought we fought hard against a team that would be at the top of our conference if they were in our conference. Considering all the new faces we have and still learning to play next to each other, I'm very proud of how hard we fought."
 
OCU 3, Our Lady of the Lake 0
The Stars got 13 kills from Kaylie Marshall in the opener, helping OCU to a 26-24, 25-21, 26-24 win over the Saints. Grace Smallwood eight kills with a .354 attack percentage and Erin Mack added seven. Natalie Adams posted 32 assists.
 
Smallwood led the defense with 11 digs and Mack contributed eight Marshall and Maddie Edwards got in on two blocks apiece.
 
The first set was a fight until the Stars used a 4-0 run for a 22-19 lead. The Saints worked to even that score at 24-24 but OCU got the win after two OLLU attack errors.
 
The second set saw OCU hold off a late rally with Biljana Milosevic smashing the game-winner for a 2-0 lead.
 
OCU trailed the third set early and rallied late from down 23-21 with consecutive kills by Marshall. The hosts went ahead 24-23 but the Stars used a kill and an ace by Marshall during a 3-0 run to close out the win.
 
WIlliam Carey 3, OCU 0
The Crusaders outlasted OCU in the second match, 25-21, 26-24, 21-12.
 
Smallwood had 11 kills and Marshall added 10 in the loss to William Carey. Adams added 24 assists.
 
Katelyn Stephenson had eight digs to lead the back row while Mack and Edwards had three blocks apiece.
 
The Crusaders used a 6-1 run to break open a 16-16 game in the first set.
 
The Stars challenged Carey in the second set. Smallwood had three kills in a 6-0 run to give the Stars a brief 20-19 lead. A pair of kills by Marshall made it 24-22, but WCC scored four consecutive points for the 26-24 win.
 
OCU wraps up the Halo Classic with a 1 p.m. match on Saturday against Embry-Riddle. ERAU defeated Texas Wesleyan on Friday and was playing Our Lady of the Lake on Friday night.