BOURBONNAIS, Ill. – Big nights from Halle Nicholas and Sabrina Sanif helped the Olivet Nazarene University women's volleyball team take down Governors State 25-19, 25-21, 25-18 Tuesday night in McHie Arena.

The victory, ONU's second straight conference win, moved the Tigers to 10-16 overall and back .500 in conference play at 6-6.

Nicholas finished with a match-high 13 kills and seven digs while Sanif tallied 11 kills and 10 digs. They were supported by Kaitlyn Kolb who collected eight kills while committing zero attack errors. The Tigers put down 15 or more kills in all three sets to cruise to the victory, highlighted by 17 kills against just five attack errors in the opening set.

A five-point run, which featured three consecutive kills from Nicholas, helped the Tigers breakaway late in the first for a 23-14 lead. An Analiese Fredin kill followed by a GSU attack error a few points later closed the set. 

The second set was tied as late as 20-20 before the Tigers pulled away, scoring five of the last six points. Ava Smith sparked the ONU spurt with a kill to take the lead, and back-to-back kills from Sanif put the Tigers at set point. Fredin dotted a service ace to close the set and go up 2-0.

The final set followed a similar script. Governors State (6-14, 2-10 CCAC) fought off an early ONU rally in the third set to tie the score at 10-10 before ONU took control. Smith put down a kill to ignite another five-point run, capped off by consecutive blocks from the Purple & Yellow Gold. The Tigers led comfortably from there.

Fredin finished with a match-high 40 assists, her fourth match of the season eclipsing the 40-assist mark. Sara Serafimova picked up a match-best 16 digs. Fredin, Nicholas, and Sanif all tallied two service aces apiece.

The Tigers will celebrate their seniors when they host Trinity Christian next Tuesday.

--ONU—

*Contact: Evan Wild, Sports Information Director, ewwild@olivet.edu