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Oklahoma Baptist scored an important Sooner Athletic Conference volleyball win Thursday, knocking off John Brown 3-2.

The Lady Bison  won 25-21, 25-18, 22-25, 25-22 to move past the Golden Eagles in the SAC standings into fifth at 5-4. The top five in the SAC move on to the conference tournament in November. OBU has just five matches remaining in SAC action.

"This was a big win for us," said OBU coach Anna Howle. "We definitely wanted revenge against John Brown. They beat us there in five sets and it could have gone either way."

John Brown got out to a 9-4 lead in the first set before four making four straight attack errors, followed by a Chassie Hamilton ace to tie the score at 9-9.

OBU trailed 12-11 but Skyler Strahm went off for four kills while Tamy Leipelt added two aces in a 6-0 Lady Bison run for a 17-12 edge. OBU held on for the 25-21 win.

The Lady Bison opened up a one-point second set with a 6-1 run that included three aces by Leipelt for a 17-11 edge. OBU went on to the 25-18 win.

After dropping the third set 25-22, the Lady Bison methodically built a 17-11 lead in the fourth set. John Brown rallied to tie the score at 17-17.

OBU led 21-20 but got kills from Hamilton and Leipelt in a 3-0 run for a 24-20 lead and later finished the match with a kill by Strahm.

"We worked hard this week about being passionate about winning," Howle said. "I made them play against me and they want to beat me so bad. That made them ready for tonight. I'm glad we switched Brittany Palmer to libero. Our other liberos care a lot about winning too, but Brittany has that senior experience and she's one of the best leaders I've ever been around."

Leipelt led OBU with 16 kills, followed by Hamilton with 15 and Strahm with 10. Leipelt had six aces and Suyan Leipelt added two. Sabra Clark dished up 38 assists.

Hamilton and Tarah Derden had three blocks each, while Hamilton led with 21 digs. Palmer had 18, Clark had 16 and Suyan and Tamy Leipelt had 14 each.

The win puts OBU at 24-8 overall, matching last season's win total. JBU dips to 18-8 overall and 4-4 in conference action.

The Lady Bison play at Oklahoma City Tuesday night.