BELTON, Texas – At last facing an actual opponent across the net, the East Texas Baptist University volleyball team swept past Willamette University (Ore.) before bowing out in a five-set match with Illinois Wesleyan University on Friday as part of the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor Invitational.

ETBU opened up the 2015 season with a shutout win over Willamette, 25-21, 25-13, 25-23. In set two, ETBU nabbed a 25-13 victory as it hit .286 on 28 attempts, while Willamette posted a .000 attacking percentage with three kills on 20 total swings. ETBU then closed out with a 25-23 victory in the third and final set.

For the match, ETBU's Mallory Sanders hit .333 on 36 attempts and had 15 kills, 10 digs and three total blocks. Hannah Jones totaled 23 digs to lead all players, and Elyse Shaw contributed 11 assists and 14 digs. Reighanna Guzman chipped in 15 assists, seven digs and five service aces.

Willamette's Sarah Fincher concluded the match with seven kills and five digs, while Tynan Gable totaled eight assists and a half dozen digs. Lindsey Compton had a team-best 18 digs, and Macy Hayashi contributed 15 digs.

In its second and final match of the afternoon, ETBU moved out to a 2-1 advantage against Illinois Wesleyan, but ultimately stumbled in five sets, 3-2. Set scores for ETBU were 24-26, 25-14, 25-20, 13-25 and 16-18.

ETBU (1-1) hit .379 for the match, while Illinois Wesleyan (2-0) hit .273.

ETBU's Sanders closed out the match with a .370 attack rate on 46 swings. She finished with 19 kills, 18 digs and a dozen total blocks. Shaw chipped in 17 assists, 13 digs and three service aces, while Morgan Rupp had 20 digs. Abby Weaver contributed eight kills, and Adaeze Elonu had 10 kills and 12 total blocks. Yet again Jones paced all players in digs, this time with 37.

Illinois Wesleyan had four players total at least 10 kills as well as four players reach double-figure digs.

ETBU wraps up its participation at the event on Saturday with matches against Whitman College (Wash.) and Millsaps College (Miss.). The matches are slated to start at 10 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. CT, respectively, inside of the Mayborn Campus Center.