Box Score (HTML)

ALVA, Oklahoma – The University of Arkansas at Monticello volleyball team suffered a four-set Great American Conference loss to Northwestern Oklahoma State on the road Friday night.

Final game scores were 21-25, 25-23, 19-25 and 19-25. UAM drops to an even 7-7 overall and 2-4 in the GAC. NWOSU improves to 10-4 overall and 4-1 in GAC matches.

After the back-and-forth first set loss, the Blossoms stormed back to win an even closer set in the second frame, posting the team's best percentage of the match at .115 with 12 kills and six errors.

In the third set, UAM saw an early seven-point lead vanish with the Lady Rangers posting four straight points on two different occasions to take their first lead of 13-12. The set stayed within two points until NWOSU reached the 20-point mark. The Lady Rangers outscored UAM 5-2 in the final rallies to take a 2-1 set lead.

In the final set, NWOSU scored the first six points and held the lead throughout the remainder of the frame. UAM rallied to pull to within one point at 18-17 using the aid of three straight NWOSU attack errors. UAM came to within one point again at 19-18 on a kill from senior Kedra Johnson, but NWOSU went on a 6-1 to close out the set and seal the match win.

Overall, UAM posted 46 kills and 33 errors on 181 swings for a .072 percentage. NWOSU had 49 kills and 27 errors on 187 attempts for a .118 percentage.

Senior Tasha Evans led UAM with 10 kills. Johnson followed with nine kills. Freshman Aspen Luna posted seven kills and a team-high .273 percentage.

Junior Kaila Kikugawa posted her fourth straight and 11th overall double-digit assist performance with 25. It was her fifth match with at least 20 assists. Junior Lani Kaiwi posted a season-high 19 digs in the loss.

Ashanti Banks led the Rangers with 12 kills, but did commit a match-high 11 errors. Elisa Bentsen added 10 kills for NWOSU.

The Blossoms are back in action on Saturday at Southwestern Oklahoma State. First serve is set for 10 a.m.