RICHARDSON, Texas – Under new head coach Keely Peterson, the East Texas Baptist University volleyball team opened up the new season going 1-1 in the Texas Dallas Invitational. ETBU fell to Texas Lutheran in five sets in the first match and then swept NAIA's Wiley College, 3-0. The win over Wiley gave Peterson her first collegiate win.

Peterson says, “Our first match vs. TLU was a hard fought match and they are a defensive team that kept us out of our system. We played much better in our second match and controlled our errors. Wiley is a big team and we did well at playing small ball around their blocks. Going 1-1 on the weekend isn't a bad start to the season.”

TLU 3, ETBU 2

Battling in the first match of the day, ETBU fell in five sets to Texas Lutheran, 20-25, 25-19, 25-21, 16-25, 11-15. ETBU hit only .106 in the match with 49 kills and six team blocks. Mallory Sanders led the way with 22 kills on 84 attacks recording a double-double with 14 digs. Bailey Byus added nine kills. Kayla Green posted 19 digs and a career-high 40 assists. Krysten Reed then gave the team 14 digs while Lauren Jarrel had 12 digs.

ETBU 3, Wiley 2

Bouncing back with a sweep in their second match of the day, ETBU took all three sets 25-23, 25-23, 25-23, for the first win of the year and Peterson's first win. ETBU hit much better in the three-set win at .269 with 49 kills. They also posted four team blocks. Abby Weaver led the team with 17 kills on a .625 hitting percentage with just two errors on 24 attempts. Sanders added 13 kills and seven digs. Morgan Rupp recorded 11 digs and Elyse Shaw had 23 assists while Green added 13 assists.

ETBU travels to California next weekend playing four matches at the California Lutheran University tournament.