BETHANY, Okla. – Southern Arkansas Volleyball began a pivotal Oklahoma swing with playoff implications on Friday afternoon inside the Sawyer Center in Bethany, Oklahoma, and unfortunately fell in straight sets (21-25, 17-25, 22-25) to Southern Nazarene in Great American Conference action.
 
Leading 11-8 in the opening set, Southern Arkansas (7-14, 1-7 GAC) weathered a 12-5 Crimson Storm run that saw SNU take a 17-14 lead before the Muleriders battled back to tie the opening frame at 20. However, Southern Nazarene (12-12, 4-4 GAC) would go on to score five of the next six points to close out the set.
 
SAU led 8-4 early in the second set, but midway through the frame, Southern Nazarene engineered an 8-1 run that led to a set two victory. Again, the Muleriders led 8-4 in set three as well as 16-12, but a late surge by the Crimson Storm enabled the home team to close out the match after they broke a 19-19 tie with a 6-3 advantage.
 
Sophomore Morgan Gross led SAU with seven kills and junior Seven Powers followed with six. Freshman Ciarra Wright chipped in with five kills.
 
Freshman Caitlin Murdock picked up 11 assists and classmate Lexi Kruse added eight. Freshman Camryn Bihary led the Muleriders in digs with 13, while sophomore Lauren Smith collected three service aces. Powers added the second-most digs with seven, while Gross joined her by collecting a pair of block assists each. Freshman Abby Bermudez recorded four block assists and a block solo.
 
UP NEXT
Southern Arkansas prepares for a quick turnaround as they travel to Shawnee for a 1 p.m. Great American Conference match against Oklahoma Baptist. Live coverage links will be available at www.MuleriderAthletics.com.