MARSHALL, Texas – Getting set to participate in their 17^th American Southwest Conference Championship Tournament, the East Texas Baptist University volleyball team travels to the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor for their first-round match. Finishing at 14-14 overall and 7-7 in the conference, ETBU finished second in the East Division and will compete against the third seed of the West Division in McMurry University.

Last week saw ETBU go 2-1 starting with a home victory over LeTourneau University in three sets. That game saw Lindsey Hill lead the way with 12 kills while Cassidy Zellmer collected 22 assists and Karina Lay added 20 digs. ETBU then went to Conway, Ark., where they split their final two matches losing to Hendrix College while bouncing back to win against Rhodes College. Against RC, Bailey Byas had 13 kills on the match while Lay had 20 digs again. Zellmer led the Tigers with 19 assists while Lizeth Flores picked up six blocks on defense.

At the end of the regular season, Sydney Lopez leads the team in kills with 229 (3.05 kills per set). Elyse Shaw has 479 assists (5.57 assists per set) while Julia De Los Santos has recorded 298 digs (4.03 digs per set). Flores leads with 52 blocks while Paige Miller has 19 service aces.

ETBU will begin their ASC Tournament run with a match against McM. The War Hawks were tied for second in the ASC West along with Concordia-Texas at 11-4. McM received the third seed because of their loss to CTX in head-to-head play. ETBU last played McM in September when the Warhawks were undefeated in ASC play. The match went five sets where McMurry won 13-25, 25-21, 25-23, 20-25, 15-12. Natalie Coburn had 17 kills while Bailey Byas added 12. Shaw recorded a double-double with 37 assists and 15 digs.

Jasmine Jones leads McM with 264 kills while Emarie James posts 532 assists. Defensively, Odalis Rodriguez has 477 digs while Justice McGowan is the top blocker with 95. Rodriguez also has the team lead in service aces with 41.
This year the first round of the tournament is a single elimination which is a new change. In the past the tournament has been double elimination with six team. The winners of Thursday's matches will advance on to the double elimination bracket for a four-team tournament.

Head coach Keely Peterson explains, the win-or-go home mentality will be something new the Tigers will have to experience at least for the first match. "We're really hopeful that with our prep that we've done this far will have us ready to go so we can pull through and be mentally focused for the game on Thursday. That will help us push forward into the rest of the double-elimination series on Friday and Saturday."

The match against McM begins tonight at 7:30 PM in Belton, Texas. If  ETBU wins, they will take on Mary Hardin-Baylor at 1:30 PM on Friday.