MARSHALL, Texas – Hosting the American Southwest Crossover, the East Texas Baptist University volleyball team put on a good showing splitting their two games on the day with the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor and Howard Payne. ETBU is now 10-6 overall and 3-2 in ASC East.
 
ETBU almost forced a fifth set with the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor before falling in four 22-25, 14-25, 25-21, 21-25. Allie Fennell led the way with 17 kills. Meredith Augsburger had 16 assists while Savannah Stanley (18 digs), Sydney Lopez (17 digs), and Julia De Los Santos (11 digs) each had double-digit digs.
 
The Tigers would bounce back with a three-set win over Howard Payne winning 25-14, 25-15, and 25-21. Fennell once again guided ETBU with 14 kills. Cassidy Zellmer recorded a double-double with 18 assists and 12 digs while Nicole Sands finished with a team-high three blocks.
 
Match 1: UMHB 3, ETBU 1
Most of the first set would be a back-and-forth contest as the Tigers and Crusaders traded points. The Tigers did put up leads of 8-4 and 15-12 before UMHB would take their first lead at 17-16. They would extend the lead to 23-19 before securing their first set win at 25-21.
 
UMHB begun set two with three points before conceding four straight points to the Tigers for the lead. But the set would turn when UMHB ran off six straight points to lead 9-4. It would then be extended to 15-7 before the Tigers would bring the score as close at 15-10. Yet the lead was too much to overcome as UMHB would make a 10-4 run to finish the set 25-14.
 
The Crusaders' momentum carried into the third set as they would build an 11-4 lead early on looking for the early knockout. Yet, ETBU would surge back with a 9-3 run with Fennell guiding the way with four kills in the stretch to trail 14-13. ETBU would then tie the match at 16-16 before a Carley Boswell kill gave them an 18-17 lead. After another tie, ETBU would run off four straight points with Zellmer putting down two service aces for a 22-18 lead. That would be the difference as ETBU wound up winning 25-21 to get their first set.
 
Each team locked in to trade points in the fourth set with the Tigers going up 10-8. Once the score was tied at 11, UMHB then the expanded to a 24-16 lead with a 13-5 run. The Tigers would manage to make the fourth set interesting with five straight points as Boswell and Lopez rallied the team back to within three. But an attack error ended the contest with UMHB winning 25-21 in set four.
 
Match 2: ETBU 3, HPU 0
The first set started off slowly for ETBU as they trailed 8-4 after the first 12 points. But then, ETBU swung the momentum in their favor with 11 straight points as Zellmer had a several service aces while Kayla Rainey contributed three kills to put the Tigers up, 15-8. The Yellow Jackets would manage three consecutive points of their own to trail by four. ETBU would respond by grabbing six straight points to go ahead, 21-11. This would be enough for the Tigers, as they took the first set, 25-14.
 
After an tight contest to start the second set, which they led 3-2, ETBU would push their lead to 7-2 with four straight points, including two Jessica Williamson service aces. HPU would make it an 8-6 contest with a 5-1 run. But the Tigers again would put separation between the two teams scoring 15 of the next 18 points for a 23-9 lead. HPU added six points before the end of the set as ETBU won, 25-15.
 
ETBU carried their momentum into the third set as they would race to a 7-2 lead with Rainey and Fennell each responsible for two kills in the stretch. HPU brought the contest to within two points at 12-10 and 14-12. The Tigers then ran off with seven of the next nine points to up their lead to 21-14. The Yellow Jackets would breeze their way back into the set with a 9-2 run to trail 23-21. Fortunately, Annie Harris and Fennell finished the sweep with crucial kills to preserve ETBU's tenth win on the season.
 
ETBU will have their final crossover match tomorrow at 10:00 AM when they host Concordia University-Texas.