Volleyball Adds SAC Win in Aggie Tri-Match

Goodwell, Okla.—In their second home series of the season, the Aggies opened with a win against the University of Science and Arts-Oklahoma to notch their first Sooner Athletic Conference victory (3-1). Panhandle State fell in their final two performances to Oklahoma Wesleyan (3-1) and Mid-America Christian (3-1).

The round robin series took place at Anchor D Arena Friday and Saturday, Aug. 31-Sept. 1 with Oklahoma Wesleyan taking away two wins of three, USAO falling in two, and MACU claiming two victories.

Panhandle State played with tenacity, taking each match to extra sets. In Friday’s first matchup, the Aggies opened SAC play with their first conference matchup against USAO. Set one brought a battle with the Aggies standing victorious 34-32 in the end. USAO took set two 26-24, before dropping the final two sets 25-15 and 25-17 to the Aggies. Kendra Butler boasted 20 kills for a game-high of 23.5 points in the contest. Setter Cailyn Berry offered up 42 assists and libero McKenna Clement handled 19 digs. Barbara Forman contributed two blocks.

The Aggies’ second meeting on Friday brought Oklahoma Wesleyan to the court. Panhandle readily won the first set 25-9, but fell in sets two through four 25-22, 26-24 and 25-14. Quiara Pointdexter and Kendra Butler both led the game in kills with 13 apiece. Berry held the game-high in sets with 35 and Madison Linton and McKenna Clement combined for 32 digs; Linton had 15 and Clement totaled 17.

MACU met with the Aggies for Saturday’s opening match, and the Evangels edged a 25-17 win in set one. Panhandle State came through with a win in the second set 26-24 and MACU added their first SAC win of the season with two-straight victories in sets three (25-17) and four (25-14). Butler landed 11 kills to lead the team and Forman followed up with ten kills. Berry assisted on 33 points and Clement totaled 19 digs on the game.

Currently, Butler sits second in the SAC for hitting percentage, averaging .318 on the season and Berry is listed fourth in assists/set averaging 7.2. As a team, Panhandle State stands seventh in SAC rankings with three opportunities to improve their conference record this week. The Aggies travel to Plainview, Texas for a Tuesday matchup with Wayland Baptist on Sept. 4, and host Southwestern Assemblies of God at 6 p.m. on Friday and Texas Wesleyan on Saturday at 1 p.m. All games offer live stats and video streaming online with links available at opsuaggies.com.