GOODWELL, Okla. — The Oklahoma Panhandle State volleyball team (3-7, 1-2 SAC) emphatically recovered from an early deficit in its home opener Friday evening to defeat Oklahoma City University (3-6, 0-3) in four sets (20-25, 28-26, 25-19, 25-19).
 
The victory marked the first occasion since 2022 that OPSU beat OCU, and it served as the Aggies' first home win against the Stars in four seasons.
 
The reigning Aggie of the Week, Skyla Stark, notched her second consecutive game with a career-high in kills with Panhandle State, as the middle blocker hammered down 17 of them on 32 swings with just a single attack error.
 
Stark's effort helped OPSU to a .233 attack percentage, which proved to be the difference-maker in the match with the Stars hitting .172, a rate damaged by 30 attack errors.
 
Panhandle State started the home opener slowly but woke up after it trailed 12-5 in the first set. A run of kills from a myriad of Aggies narrowed the deficit to two at 19-17, but OCU retained control to take a 1-0 match advantage.
 
Using a dominant stretch of kills from Elena Kagiali, OPSU burst to a 9-5 lead early in set number two. Oklahoma City battled back and eventually got it to set point at 25-24, but with the "Red Out" crowd at the Aggies' back, the home team took four of the eventual five final points in the frame to even the match.
 
OCU seemingly swung momentum back with a 4-0 run to open the third set, but Panhandle State turned up its attack with a .283 kill percentage in the frame, and it notched the last four points of the set to take a 2-1 lead.
 
The Aggies never looked back in a dominant fourth set, as the hosts tallied four aces across the frame. Emma Coburn slammed home the final point of the match on Mia Sanchez' 46th set assist to put the Stars away.
 
Elena Kagiali joined Stark with double-digit kills, as the redshirt senior notched a double-double with 12 digs as well.
 
Taylor Silva and Taylore Alsaid led the defense with 18 and 16 digs, respectively, while Coburn recorded a team-high four blocks. Reserve Rylie Kaopuiki-Kaikaina had a solid all-around home opener with seven kills at a .417 success clip and three block assists.
 
What's up next: Panhandle State wraps up its weekend inside Anchor D Arena on Saturday at 1 p.m. to face Southwestern Christian (0-6, 0-3 SAC).