PLAINVIEW, TX – The Lubbock Christian University Lady Chaps captured the Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament championship with a memorable 3-2 come from behind victory over the Oklahoma City University Stars in the title match, played at the Hutcherson Center on the campus of Wayland Baptist University.

From the start, OCU (33-6) played well, jumping out on LCU (29-7) 10-3 in game one courtesy of 6 straight points served by OCU’s Maryna Verbovetska.  The Lady Chaps managed to climb within 4 at 20-16 after a kill by Kelsey Odell, but Erin Hirt served the Stars to a 26-18 advantage before Oklahoma City went on to win game one 30-22.

In the second game, it was Lubbock Christian’s turn to play from in front as a 9-9 tie quickly became a 20-12 advantage for the Lady Chaps, thanks in large part to 3 kills by Suzanne Childress and 3 by Brittany Hix.  The two teams played even the rest of the game with LCU winning 30-21.

In game three, the two teams traded punches as neither school was able to amass a lead bigger than 3.  After 12 ties, City forged ahead 27-26 on a Verbovetska kill, and the Stars were able to stretch that lead to 29-26 before holding on to win 30-28 and take a 2 games to 1 lead.

The momentum Oklahoma City gained at the end of game three carried over through the start of game four as the Stars went out 8-1 and looked to have matters well in hand before the scene became unpredictable.

Childress and Courtney Yonke served up 11 of the next 13 points, and the Lady Chaps forged ahead 12-10, but then OCU, with LCU up 22-19, took a 26-22 advantage as Verbovetska served up 7 straight points of her own.

Four points away from losing the match, the Lady Chaps got 5 of the next 6 points to tie the game at 27, and a pair of kills by McGuire down the stretch kept Lubbock Christian alive as they scraped by with the 30-28 win.

In the deciding game, Lubbock Christian looked to finally be done for good as Amy Clendenin served the Stars to a 9-3 lead.

However, LCU’s Katie McGuire then took control and returned the favor with 9 straight points of her own, courtesy of stellar back row play from McGuire herself, 4 kills by Childress, and 2 kills by Elissa Loynes. 

By the time the dust settled, Lubbock Christian had gone in front 11-9 and never looked back, winning 15-11.

For the match, Childress finished with 21 kills and 25 digs, McGuire had 12 kills and 11 digs, and LCU setter Rachel Stuyvesant had 61 assists and 18 digs.

Courtney Yonke paced the Lubbock Christian defense with 35 digs, and Kelsey Odell and Lauren Hackney had 20 and 10 digs, respectively.

Four Stars reached double digits in kills, including Whitney Kress (18), Lindsay Hansen (14), Verbovetska (11), and Clendenin (10), and Verbovetska also had an impressive 30 digs. 

Erin Hirt handed out 41 assists and scooped up 21 digs while Nicole Gruenbacher and Shelbey Veselka added 19 and 11 digs, respectively.

For their efforts, Childress, Yonke, Verbovetska, and Clendenin were named to the all-tournament team, with Childress claiming Tournament Most Valuable Player honors. 

They were joined by Wayland Baptist’s Desiree Luevano and Southern Nazarene’s Keely Burson, who likewise garnnered all-tournament accolades.