ABILENE, Texas - Despite aggressive play and a hard-fought effort on both ends, the East Texas Baptist University volleyball team came up short on the opening day of the American Southwest Conference Crossover Invitational. ETBU fell to McMurry University, 3-2, and the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor, 3-0. ETBU is now 8-16 overall and 4-7 in American Southwest Conference matches this season.
Game 1: MCM 3 ETBU 2
McM had all the momentum to start set one, rattling off six straight points to take an early 7-1 lead. ETBU found themselves down 12-5 until a kill by
Lizeth Flores off the assist by
Meredith Augsburger sparked a 5-0 run to bring the score to 12-10. The Tigers would trail for much of the first set until a kill by
Allison Sevening gave the team their first lead at 17-16. ETBU carried that momentum to a set one victory, 25-23, which was sealed with a kill by
Bailey Byas.
ETBU started quickly in set two after a set up by
Elyse Shaw led to a kill for
Natalie Coburn to take the early 1-0 lead. The Tigers led virtually the entire way en route to the 25-21 victory over the Warhawks in set two.
McM battled back and stole the next two sets from the Tigers 25-16 and 25-23, leading to the fifth and deciding set of the match. With all the momentum in the Warhawk's corner, McM took set five 15-6 to claim the come-from-behind victory over ETBU.
Coburn led ETBU with 13 kills, while Shaw (23 assists) and Augsburger (21 assists) combined for 44 assists in the loss.
Paige Miller added a double-double with 26 digs and 12 kills while
Bailey Byas added 11 kills.
Gabrielle Guy also had 19 digs while Flores recorded six total blocks.
Game 2: UMHB 3 ETBU 0
Game two proved to be a daunting task for the Tigers, as they were set to battle the Crusaders who is the top team in the ASC West. Set one was a back and forth affair before UMHB pulled away with the 25-22 victory to take the 1-0 lead. After claiming set two 25-12, ETBU was not yet ready to concede set three to UMHB. Both teams battled for much of the set, with the Tigers taking a 19-16 lead off the kill by Miller down the stretch. This pivotal set would exceed 25 points, as the Crusaders ultimately pulled away 29-27 for the 3-0 win over ETBU.
Miller led the Tigers' attack with a double-double of 13 kills and 16 digs. Shaw collected 21 assists as Coburn posted 10 kills.
Karina Lay added 16 digs, too.
ETBU will close out the ASC Crossover with a match against Howard Payne on Saturday, Oct. 14. at 12:00 p.m.
