Unlike Thursday’s quarterfinal victory against Oklahoma Baptist, the Tigers (21-9) dropped the opening set. In a set that featured just one lead change, the Bulldogs (21-8) scored a 25-22 victory, thanks in part to hitting .302 and committing just two errors.
The second set featured 15 ties, including every tie from 1-1 to 8-8, and eight lead changes. SWOSU made the initial push and grabbed a 14-9 advantage. The Tigers drew even at 16 and the set maintained no more than a one-part margin until the Tigers scored three-straight points for a 23-20 lead. SWOSU answered back with three straight points. The Bulldogs staved off one set point before Riley Braziel connected on consecutive kills in a 26-24 set victory.
Ouachita carried the second-set momentum into the third set. They scored the first four points and never allowed the Bulldogs to pull closer than three. A 10-2 surge put the set out of reach. Kailey Thedford accounted for seven kills during that stretch.
The Tigers faced only one deficit in the fourth set, 1-0, before taking hold of the set at 9-4. The Bulldogs rallied to within two on a pair of occasions. Leading 17-14, Thedford collected her final three kills of the night in a nine-point span to push the Tigers to the brink of victory. SWOSU put together its only three-point streak of the set before an Emily Adams kill finished the contest.
Ouachita finished with a .290 attack percentage, the best a GAC school has hit against Southwestern Oklahoma State since Harding on April 10, 2021. Thedford set a GAC Championship for kills in a four-set match with a career-high 27 kills. She hit .319 on 69 attempts. Braziel hit .400 with 12 kills and she did commit one error. Courtney Hanson amassed 53 assists and 18 digs. Avery Jauz finished with a match-high 30 digs.
Lacy Mott, the GAC Player of the Year, paced the Bulldogs with 13 kills. Defensive Player of the Year Samantha Kuzma totaled four blocks.
The Tigers became the first No. 5 seed to advance to the GAC Championship final. Prior to this week, the fifth seed had not even won one match at the GAC Championships since Southern Nazarene reached the semifinals in 2019. For only the second time in league history, the tournament’s top seed will go consecutive years without capturing the title. In 2015 and 2016, SWOSU and Southern Nazarene each won at the No. 3 seed.
Ouachita Baptist faces Harding at 3 p.m. on Saturday with the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA Championships at stake. The Tigers split their two regular-season meetings with the Lady Bisons.
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