BELTON, Texas – In the opening match of the American Southwest Conference Volleyball Tournament, the East Texas Baptist University volleyball team upset the #2 West Division seed Hardin-Simmons University 3-1 (25-23, 25-19, 21-25, and 29-27).

HSU will fall to the consolation bracket and will play the loser of the Texas-Tyler/Howard Payne matchup tomorrow at 2:30 p.m. in an elimination match. ETBU advances to the next round where they will face-off against #3 in the country and #1 East Division seed Texas Dallas.

ETBU took the first two sets 25-23 and 25-19, before HSU battled back and won the third set 25-21. Hardin-Simmons did not go lightly as they pushed the fourth set to extra points, and ETBU came out on top 29-27 to close out the match.

Allison Kuster finished with 14 kills in the match, followed by Morgan Prince and Grace Schulz with 12 kills each. Ashley Pierce had a match high 47 assists to lead the Cowgirls. Lauren wish had a match high 27 digs, and Pierce finished with 11 digs for a double-double. HSU hit .159 as a team and finished with eight blocks and seven service aces.

ETBU was led by Mallory Sanders who finished with another double-double for her career as she posted a match high 22 kills and added 19 digs and four blocks. Madison Riley pitched in 10 crucial kills for ETBU to help then pull away at the end. Allison Sevening and Sydney Lopez had eight and seven kills respectively. Kayla Green led the Tigers with 26 assists and also had 10 digs for another double-double. Elyse Shaw finished with 20 assists and nine digs. Morgan Rupp had 18 digs and seven assists. Lauren Jarrell finished with 10 digs of her own. ETBU hit .222 as a team and finished with 10 team blocks.

The match versus Texas Dallas will take place at 5:00 p.m. UTD swept the season series against ETBU this season. ETBU has won three straight matches now, and improves to 11-12 with their win over Hardin-Simmons.