MAGNOLIA, Ark. — Mulerider Volleyball wrapped game two of the three-game week at home, as Southern Arkansas went toe-to-toe with the 24th-ranked Oklahoma Baptist University Bison. The Blue and Gold hung with, and even pushed the Bison in the home match, but Oklahoma Baptist ended up narrowly escaping the upset in front of the raucous W.T. Watson Center, moving them to 8-0 in league play.
Even with the loss, Southern Arkansas managed to accomplish some impressive feats on the night, as senior Brinklee Dauenhauer broke her own record from nearly a year ago, with the Springtown, Texas native leading the Muleriders' offensive charge with 34.0 total points. In doing so, she also tied a program record for a second time with 28 kills in a single match. Dauenhauer ended up leading the match in service aces with five, the second most by her this season. She also tacked on 15 digs for her eighth double-double of the campaign.
Dauenhauer was not the only offensive weapon for the Muleriders against the Bison, as freshman Peighton Killeen tallied 16 kills and sophomore Addy Vollmer added on 12 of her own.
Southern Arkansas was led in digs by senior Kendall Toliver, as the Wichita Falls, Texas local accounted for 26.
Having a career night in assists was sophomore Kate Schofield, as the Bentonville, Arkansas native led the game in assists with 53.
Set One (L, 25-22)
Early on, the match had the makings of a classic, as both groups did not give up much ground to the other. If ground needed to made up, it most likely was with large rallies back and forth. To begin the opening round, OBU began with a 5-3 lead with one kill and a pair of Mulerider errors. SAU quickly countered with a 4-1 stretch to take the lead and go up 8-6. After a point for each squad, Oklahoma Baptist scored four straight regain its two-point lead at 11-9. Soon after, Southern Arkansas went on a 6-1 run to go up 15-12, seizing much of the momentum. The stretch was capped off by five-straight SAU kills. Despite the Bison bringing the set back within one, 16-15, the Muleriders followed with four-straight point to go up 20-15, and seemingly take hold of the first set. That did not end up being the case, with OBU pulling off five-straight points, three of which were errors, 20-20. Even after two-straight points for SAU to go back up two at 22-20, the Bison scored the next five to take the opening set.
Set Two (W, 25-22)
The Muleriders flipped the script on Oklahoma Baptist in the second set, as the Blue and Gold quickly went up 5-2 and held a multiple point lead up until being ahead at 12-9, as OBU followed that with a 3-0 stretch to tie, 12-12. Even though OBU tied, Southern Arkansas still countered with a. 6-1 rally to go up 18-13. The Muleriders extended their lead even more to six points after going up 21-15. The Bison were not out of the set yet though, scoring the next four points, 21-19, but despite the push back from Oklahoma Baptist, SAU pulled out the set two win with five of the last eight points.
Set Three (L, 25-19)
Oklahoma Baptist did not take kindly to falling in set two, so the group followed it up with a fairly dominant third set, going up 5-1 early. The unit built up to a 10-5 advantage, but Southern Arkansas never showed any signs of quitting, bringing the set back within two at 11-9. Despite the Blue and Gold's efforts, the group could not close gap completely, even falling 25-19 in the set.
Set Four (W, 25-23)
The Bison had pushed the Muleriders' backs against the wall, but the Blue and Gold ended up pushing back with both units going back-and-forth til hitting double-digit points. After both groups crossed into double digits, 11-10, OBU scored four more to increase its lead to 15-10. The squad from Shawnee aimed to keep its hold on the Muleriders, but ended up losing its grip, as SAU hung with the Bison, but would eventually find themselves down 23-21. After that, SAU had a kill from Dauenhauer, an attack error from OBU, and then back-to-back kills from Killeen to force a fifth set, which marks the first five set match against Oklahoma Baptist since 2017.
Set Five (L, 15-13)
Going into the set with loads of momentum, the Muleriders continued going back-and-forth with the 24th-ranked team in the nation, never going down two points, and evening finding themselves up two after a 4-1 run to lead 10-8. Even after the Bison tied the set back at 11-11, Addy Vollmer tacked on back-to-back kills to retake the two-point lead, 13-11. Just two points away from dropping their first conference match of the season, Oklahoma Baptist ended up taking the lead with three-straight SAU attack errors and a final kill by the Bison.
Up Next
The Muleriders cap off their three-game home stretch tomorrow evening, as the Blue and Gold will take on the Southern Nazarene Crimson Storm inside the W.T. Watson Center at 4:00 PM.
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