Oklahoma Panhandle State University

Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 | Box Score 3 | Box Score 4 Wichita, Kan.—The OPSU Volleyball team concluded their travels for the season with a four-game road series that started on Thursday, Nov. 5 in Fort Smith, Ark., and ended with a tri-match on Friday and a conference game on Saturday, both in Wichita, Kan.

The Aggies took losses in each match but put up competitive efforts against four strong opponents. First facing the number one team in the Heartland Conference, the Aggies struggled against UAFS. Getting off to a sluggish start in set one, OPSU was defeated 9-25; they steadily improved in the following two sets, but fell 13-25 and 16-25 to the only undefeated team in the league. The Lady Lions own an overall record of 22-3, and currently rank second in the nation for opponent hitting percentage holding teams to an average of .102; the Aggies averaged -.030 for the match.

In the tri-match hosted by Newman University OPSU met up with two teams from the Lone Star Conference on Friday; Eastern New Mexico and West Texas A&M. The Aggies made runs in the first two sets against Eastern but could not pull ahead, losing 18-25 and 20-25. With only four kills on 25 team attacks, they took a 12-25 loss in the third. Facing a similar opponent in WTAMU (both ENMU and WT hold records of 4-11 within the LSC), the Aggies earned similar results dropping three in a row with scores of 15-25, 10-25 and 16-25.

Saturday's single game was a Heartland match against Newman. The Aggies played well against the second-ranked HC team and had the highest hitting percentage of the series in the first set (.371). Within reach of a win in set one (down one point 21-22), an OPSU service error sent the ball back to the Jets who won the final two points off kills for a 25-21 win. The Aggies relapsed with a 10-25 loss in set two and recharged in the third but could not pull out the win losing 19-25.

Madigan Gonzales led the team in kills totaling 20 in four games played; senior Celci Bakos finished with 17 kills in the series. Gonzales also the Aggies in scoring in all but one match; Kaitlyn Carr led the team with 6.5 points against Newman off five kills and 1.5 blocks. Gonzales averaged 7.25 points per game and contributed with four service aces and ten block assists on the road tour. Setters Abigail Reinick and Julia Ibarra led in assists totaling 37 and 33 in the series respectively. Digging out 58 balls in her four games at libero, Dejiana Rubio averaged 4.83 digs per set.

Assistant Coach Mike Stara commented on the games, "I really feel like we got progressively better throughout the four-match stretch. Although we lost all four, we really did some nice things, especially offensively. We hit a season best .234 (average) in our final match against Newman and no one hit in the negatives, which was really encouraging to see.  We also limited our reception errors, which was another positive. We look forward to focusing a little more on defense this week and playing with great togetherness and trust in our matches on Thursday and Saturday." 

The Aggies fall to a 1-31 overall record and will wrap up their season at home this week with two final Heartland Conference games. Thursday, Nov. 12 at 7 p.m. OPSU takes on the third-ranked team in the conference with Lubbock Christian; it will be a Military and First Responders Appreciation Day. On Saturday, Nov. 14 the Aggies will recognize their senior players prior to the matchup against Texas-Permian Basin which begins at 10 a.m. Volleyball fans are invited to fill the Oscar Williams Field House to support your Aggies!