SAN ANTONIO – The Oklahoma City Stars Volleyball team split a pair of matches on Saturday winning against Carroll College in five sets and then falling to Our Lady of the Lake in the San Antonio ShinDig finale.  

Match 1

Score 

Oklahoma City 3, Carroll College 2 

• Oklahoma City (1-1) 
• Carroll College (4-4) 

Match Summary 

Set 1: 25-23 (OCU) 

Set 2: 25-23 (OCU) 

Set 3: 25-21 (CC) 

Set 4: 25-23 (CC) 

Set 5: 15-8 (OCU) 

Set 1 

Carroll College jumped out to hot start in the first set taking an 11-3 lead over the Stars. After cutting the lead down to five on a kill by junior Ruby Kelley Carroll went on another big run to go ahead 17-10. The tides began to turn as OCU went on a 6-0 run behind Michela De Stefano taking over and getting the Stars back in it. Another kill by Kelley tied up the set at 20 a piece for the first time since it was 1-1. Carroll regained the lead by three at a score of 23-20 only for OCU to score five straight points behind kills from Kelley and Natalie Adams, a freshman from San Antonio, Texas. Adams secured the set-winning kill to put the Stars up 1-0 in the match.   

Set 2 

The second set was the tightest set that the Stars played all weekend long as no lead ever got bigger than three. OCU got down 7-4 however a pair of kills from Emma Nickerson got the Stars in it and held the lead up until Carroll tied it back up at 19-19. Carroll College took a 23-20 lead and for the second consecutive set Oklahoma City closed things out on a 5-0 run as Rylee Steward and Ruby Kelley helped tie things up at 23-23 with attacks of their own followed up with junior Gabrielle Fjeseth securing the victory in the second set with two kills to finish things off.  

Set 3 

In the third set, Carroll College took a big lead early 10-2, and never trailed the rest of the way. Oklahoma City made things interesting by going on a 9-1 run as Steward picked up a block as well as a kill to get the Stars within reach. An ace by Adams put the Stars within one at 14-13 only for the Saints to go back up 19-14. OCU didn't go away as they brought it back within three on a kill from Nickerson to make it 23-20 for the third straight set. This time however the Stars comeback was put on hold as a set-winning kill from Lauren Heuiser kept the Saints alive and forced a fourth set.  

Set 4 

The fourth set stayed within two points until Carroll grabbed the biggest lead of the set at 15-12. OCU tied the setup at 16-16 on a block from Steward and Fjeseth. OCU took its first lead of the fourth set on an attack error from Sidney Gulick putting the Stars ahead 18-17. Things remained neck and neck as Carroll tied it back up only for Steward to give the Stars the lead again on the assist from Adams making it 22-21 in favor of Oklahoma City. Carroll College flipped the switch and finished off the set on a 4-1 run winning 25-23 sending the match to a fifth and final set.  

Set 5 

In the final set, the momentum shifted back into the hands of Oklahoma City as the Stars ramped up their defense and took an 8-3 lead. OCU held the lead the entire rest of the way and won the match 15-8 on a kill from the freshman Adams, which was assisted by Kaitlyn Dunlap, a sophomore out of Wichita Falls, Texas.   

Game Notes 

Oklahoma City held the edge over Carroll in kills with a 52-51 advantage. The Stars also surpassed the Saints in aces by one with a figure of 5-4. OCU notched 16 blocks and 51 assists to Carroll's 10 blocks and 45 assists.  

Ruby Kelley led all players in kills with 16 as Michela De Stefano and Natalie Adams each led a game-high in aces with two apiece.  

Adams also led the contest in assists with 39 as the freshman already surpassed her total from her debut on Friday.  

Ruby Kelley secured a double-double, her first of the season as Kelley made 16 kills and 25 digs. 

Saturday's matchup was the first since 2009 and the second meeting all-time between the two squads and the OCU victory gives both teams a win in the all-time series.  

Match 2

Score 

Our Lady of the Lake 3, Oklahoma City 0 

• Our Lady of the Lake (2-5) 
• Oklahoma City (1-2) 

Match Summary 

Set 1: 25-18 (OLLU) 

Set 2: 28-26 (OLLU) 

Set 3: 25-21 (OLLU) 

Set 1 

The first set stayed within two points up until Our Lady of the Lake stretched out its lead 20-15, the largest lead of the first set. A kill from Rylee Steward on the assist from Natalie Adams that followed with an ace from Riley Winkler tightened up the Saints lead at 20-17. OLLU closed out the first set on a 5-1 run to win it 25-18.  

Set 2 

A lot like the first set, the second was neck and neck remaining within two points until a kill from Steward gave OCU the biggest lead of the set at 19-16. OLLU got back in the set and tied it up at 21 a piece when Victoria Urbanczyk gave the Saints their first lead of the set with an ace. The scoring went back and forth as both teams exchanged blows. With OLLU leading at 26-25 Steward came right back at the Saints with a big kill to tie the set back up at 26 all. Our Lady of the Lake however prevailed in the late going and scored on back-to-back possessions to secure the win 28-26.  

Set 3 

After a heart-wrenching loss in set number two Oklahoma City had a difficult time getting back into the swing of things. Gabrielle Fjeseth tied the set up at 1-1 and that ended up being the only tie in the remainder of the set. OLLU took the lead and never looked back reaching a lead as large as seven points. OCU made its way back as Ruby Kelley brought the Stars within three on a kill which was followed up with an attack error making it 23-21 in favor of Our Lady of the Lake. The OCU comeback halted as the OLLU scored the next two points to capture the sweep over the Stars in the final match of the day.  

GAME NOTES 

Ruby Kelley reached double figures in kills with 12, giving Kelley the second most in the game among all players behind OLLU's Mia Dorsey with 15. Rylee Steward finished with eight kills followed by Emma Nickerson who had six. 

Natalie Adams led all players with three aces and tied a game-high in assists with 29.  

Kaitlyn Dunlap (18), Kelley (11), and Adams (10) all reached double figures in digs. Kelley also reached a game-high in blocks with five along with De Stefano and Steward who had three each.  

Kelley notched a double-double for the second consecutive game having 12 kills and 11 digs.  

Adams secured her first career double-double having 29 assists and 10 digs.  

The two squads entered the match with four previous meetings as each team had won two games of their own. Oklahoma City won the last matchup coming in April of 2021 however this time Our Lady of the Lake took the advantage going up three games to two in the all-time series.  

UP NEXT 

Oklahoma City will open Sooner Athletic Conference play on Friday, September 1 as the Stars make the trip to Plainview, Texas to take on Wayland Baptist at 7 PM.