MARSHALL, Texas- Looking to end the American Southwest Conference Crossover Tournament on a high note, the East Texas Baptist University volleyball team used double-doubles by
Paige Miller,
Meredith Augsburger and
Elyse Shaw, along with 16 kills by
Natalie Coburn to overcome Howard Payne University, 3-1. After Saturday's win, ETBU is now 9-16 overall and 5-7 in American Southwest Conference East Division.
The Tigers would put themselves in an early 4-0 hole to start the contest. After a service error by the Yellow Jackets, ETBU rattled off three consecutive points to get within one, 4-3. The game was all knotted at 9-9 when a kill by
Bailey Byas put ETBU on top 10-9 for their first lead of the match. HPU continued to battle, tying up the game on multiple occasions until the Tigers finally pulled away to take set one 25-20.
Set two was just as competitive as the first set, with neither team being able to stretch out their respective leads. With the game squared at 8-8, a kill by
Abby Weaver put ETBU on top 9-8. The Tigers rode that momentum all the way to a 25-21 victory over HPU, going up 2-0 in the series.
Howard Payne refused to give up, despite ETBU mounting their largest deficit of the match at 12-5 in set three. HPU battled all the way back to tie the game at 24-24, and closed out the set by scoring the next two points, 26-24, to stay alive.
Like the majority of the match, set four was another tight battle for both teams. A kill by Coburn opened up the set for ETBU. ETBU would maintain the lead down the stretch taking a 19-16 lead. Miller and
Allison Sevening sealed the Yellow Jacket's fate with back-to-back kills, taking the final set 25-21 and the series 3-1. Â
Miller and Coburn both turned in tremendous games for the Tigers in the win. Coburn recorded 16 kills and Miller notched another double-double with 16 kills and 12 digs.
Elyse Shaw also stuffed the stat sheet, dishing out 18 assists and 16 digs.
Meredith Augsburger contributed 22 assists of her own and collected 13 digs in the Tigers' ninth win of the season.
ETBU will travel to Longview, Texas, on Tuesday, Oct. 17
th, for a battle against LeTourneau University. The match is set for 7:00 p.m. Â Â
