SHERMAN, Texas – Starting the 2019 season off with a sweep of two matches, the East Texas Baptist University volleyball team came away with victories over Austin College and St. Thomas (TX). The wins gave new head coach Darby Graff a great start to her career, too.

In their first game, ETBU trailed by two sets before pulling off a comeback to win in five sets (13-25, 23-25, 25-17, 26-24, 18-16). Allie Fennell and Bailey Byas both led ETBU with nine kills. Cassidy Zellmer dished out 18 assists while Julia De Los Santos guided the Tigers with 37 digs on defense.

A hard fought battle in match two, ETBU went five-sets again winning 25-19, 20-25, 25-23, 23-25, 17-15. Kennedy Peacock led the team with a career high 19 kills while Byas added 16 kills and Fennell 10 kills. De Los Santos added 28 digs and Zellmer had 22 assists.

Match 1: ETBU 3, AC 2
ETBU started off the first set with two straight points beginning with a kill from Zellmer. The Roos answered with a 6-2 surge to lead 6-4. Following a Fennell kill to cut the lead down to 6-5, AC expanded their momentum by scoring nine of the next 10 points to go up 15-6. ETBU would only cut the deficit to 16-9, but managed to score four points the rest of the way as AC took the first set with a 25-13.
 
In the second set, AC went up by scores of 3-0 and 6-2. Yet, ETBU would creep back into the set drawing to within 9-7 only to see AC get back up 15-9. ETBU would grab the first lead of the set with a 10-3 run that began and ended with a Byas kill.   The teams then battled to a 21-21 tie before the Roos tacked three unanswered points. ETBU would then trail 24-23 before AC took the second set 25-23.
 
Needing momentum on their side, the Tigers started the third set with six of the first seven points. But a 7-2 run by AC evened the set at eight apiece. Then, ETBU took control as they scored nine points while conceding one to lead 17-9 with Byas contributing a couple of kills in the stretch. ETBU would keep this lead all the way to the final point when a block by Nicole Sands and Alexis Contos preserved the 25-17 win and gave the Tigers a critical set win.
 
Set four would be AC as they raced out to a 6-1 lead. Down 9-3, the Tigers would rally back as a kill by Sydney Peacock started four straight Tiger points. Kills by Byas and Lizeth Flores would give ETBU a 12-10 edge before AC tied the set at 12. Each team then traded points for the second half of the set as AC would grab a 23-22 lead. Fennell answered for ETBU with back-to-back kills to put ETBU up 24-23. Although the Roos would even the score at 24, ETBU would win the set with kills by Peacock and Sands making the final score 26-24.
 
In the fifth set, AC jumped ahead 8-3. But the Tigers fought back as they tied the score at nine before grabbing the lead with a Sands kill and a pair of Peacock service aces. AC would rally with three unanswered points only for ETBU to be at set point at 14-12. The Roos then found themselves as set point with three straight points to lead 15-14. Yet, Flores tied the set with a kill while Zellmer's service ace gave them the lead. The Roos evened the score at 16. But in the end, kills by Flores and Fennell secured ETBU's first match win of the season at 18-16.
 
Match 2: ETBU 3, St. Thomas 2
ETBU made a big statement in the first set by taking a 25-19 win over the Celts. Despite giving up the first point, ETBU kicked up a 9-4 surge with Byas being involved with four kids during the stretch. UST would respond with a 10-5 run of their own to even it up at 14 apiece. ETBU would trail one more time in the set at 16-15 before finishing with a 10-3 run to earn the first set win.
 
UST bounced back to take the second set 25-20 as they grabbed the lead from the get and never conceded. Although ETBU would tie up the set at six, the Celts retook the lead as they would pile in 11 points in the next 15 serves to lead 17-10. ETBU would manage four straight points to trail by three at 17-14. Yet, they were unable to get closer as the match was even at one apiece through two sets.
 
Tied at four through eight serves into the third set, ETBU began to take control with an 11-5 run to lead 15-9 as Peacock collected three kills in the stretch while the Tigers never gave up more than two points in a row. But that would change with the Celts cutting the lead to 18-15. The Tigers would put up another rally to be at set point ahead 24-19. UST did make a comeback scoring four straight points. But thanks to Fennell, the Tigers had their second set win and led 2-1 in the match.
 
Carrying the momentum from the third set, ETBU started set four with five straight points en route to a 10-2 lead. The Celts, however, came back to trail 15-12 thanks to a 10-5 run. Eventually, UST's momentum would lead them to tying and then taking the lead at 20-19. After trading points, the Tigers found themselves down 24-23 before UST secured the win with a kill.
 
For the second match in a row, the fifth set would require more than fifteen points to secure ETBU's win. Throughout much of the set, the Tigers only trailed one time as they started with a 4-1 lead. On a few occasions, the Celts would tie up the score at 7-7, 12-12, and 13-13. ETBU would make an attack error that led to a critical point for UST, who led 14-13. But Peacock came through with a kill to extend the contest. After each team scored one point, Peacock then gave the Tigers the lead before a UST attack error ended the contest in ETBU's favor.
 
ETBU will resume their new season with two matches on Saturday as they take on Centenary at 11:00 AM and Paul Quinn College at 3:00 PM.