ABILENE, Texas - After faltering in two tough sets, the East Texas Baptist University volleyball stormed back to take down the Cowgirls of Hardin-Simmons in five sets (21-25, 20-25, 25-18, 25-10, 15-11). Along with a win by forfeit on Friday, ETBU is now 7-5 overall and 6-2 in the American Southwest Conference.
Avery Reid once again led the way with a double-double performance. This time, it was 13 kills and 15 digs.
Lillie Hill led all players with 23 digs.
Kaylee Morton and
Maddison Harris led the way with 15 and 11 assists respectively.
Trailing 6-4 early in the first set, the Tigers would be lifted by an 8-3 run to go up 12-9. HSU leveled the set at 14 only for a repeat of this pattern to occur with the Cowgirls overcoming a three-point lead to tie at 19 apiece. But after a kill by Reid knotted things at 21, HSU put up four straight points to take the set 25-21.
After exchanging the first eight serves of set two, a 6-2 Cowgirl run brought them a 10-6 cushion. Kills by
Bailey O'Bannon and
Kayla Rainey ignited a rally that would see the score knotted at 13. Once HSU went up on the next kill, they wouldn't relinquish the lead. ETBU would get the score to 20-18, but went down 2-0 after a 5-2 HSU run, which made the final score of set two 25-20.
Needing a spark in the third set, ETBU opened up a 7-4 lead with blocks by Reid and O'Bannon, a service ace by Rainey and kills by Reid and
Annie Harris. HSU was able to bring the margin to as close as 10-9. Yet, with each close run by the Cowgirls came an answer by the Tigers. ETBU did extend their leads to 16-11 and 19-13 before four straight HSU points made the margin at two points. From there, ETBU ran off six of the final seven points to claim the critical third set 25-18.
The momentum carried into the fourth set as the Tigers would not be challenged at all. Starting with eight straight points, ETBU's gap widened to 16-3. A big reason for why was a combined five service aces between Hill and
Hope Shipp. Though HSU was able to work back to within single digits (17-8), the Tigers conceded only two more points to tie the match with a 25-10 victory.
ETBU would rarely face trouble in the fifth and final set as they built a 7-2 lead early. The Cowgirls went on a 4-2 run to trail 9-6 before Reid recorded a kill and a service ace while forcing an error to lead 12-6. Despite HSU's last run to trail 12-9, ETBU would end their comeback with a Shipp kill at 15-11.
ETBU will have a doubleheader on Tuesday at Ornelas Gymnasium. First, they will meet with the University of St. Thomas (TX) at 3:00 PM and Centenary College at 7:00 PM.
