BELTON, Texas – Making a statement in Belton, Texas, East Texas Baptist University rumbled through the Mayborn Campus Center sweeping the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor, 3-0, (29-27, 25-14, 25-20) for the program's fourth American Southwest Conference Tournament Championship. It is the first time in 20 years that ETBU has won the ASC Tournament Championship and they now receive the automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament.
"I am incredibly proud of this team of all the work they have put in and bouncing off of last year to this year and making it back to the ASC Championship and watching this team write their story out," said head coach
Mallory Matthews. "I am prouder of this team for who and what they are and where their hearts are and giving all the glory to God."
ETBU has won ASC Championships in 2001, 2002, and 2003 and now played in seven championship games. The win marks the first championship for Coach Matthews in only her second year at ETBU as the Tigers move to 25-3 on the year. That is the most wins since 32 in 2013 and ties for the second most wins in the NCAA Division III era.
Graycee Mosley continued to add more hardware for this season being named the ASC Tournament MVP as
Avery Reid and
Lillie Hill were on the ASC All-Tournament team. It is the second year in a row that Reid is on the ASC All-Tournament team.
ETBU pounded out 54 kills with a .268 hitting percentage as the difference came in set two hitting .433. UMHB was held to just 30 kills and a .132 hitting percentage with a .027 hitting percentage in set three. ETBU had 16 blocks and five serving aces.
Mosley recorded 21 kills and 10 digs for her 19
th double-double of the year to lead the team. Reid followed with 12 kills and
Rachael Spicer had seven kills.
Sydney Temple added a double-double posting 21 assists and 10 digs. Hill collected 22 digs and one service ace. Spicer also led in blocks with five as
Lexi Moody added four.
The tone was set for the match in set one as ETBU battled back to win gritty one, 29-27. It went back and forth until UMHB took a 14-10 lead but two Reid kills and a UMHB error put ETBU within one, 14-13. Down two, 16-14, ETBU reeled off three straight points on kills from Spicer and Mosley for a one-point lead, 17-16. UMHB then went up, 19-18 but a Mosley kill and UMHB error gave ETBU the lead, 20-19. ETBU went on to have set point, twice, and the score was tied eight times. The final tie was at 27 on a UMHB kill. Reid put ETBU up on a kill set up by Moody and then an UMHB attack error gave ETBU the set one win, 29-27.
ETBU came out strong in set two with a 4-1 lead with kills from Spicer, Mosley, and Reid along with a Reid service ace. With a 7-4 lead, ETBU scored three straight points for a six-point advantage, 10-4. UMHB took one point as ETBU scored six of the next seven points for a 16-6 lead. Four kills and a service ace as Reid had three of the kills and a Moody service ace gave ETBU control of the set. Once again, UMHB received one point and ETBU reeled off five straight points making it 21-7. Five straight kills from
Hannah Perry, Mosley, and Spicer gave ETBU the 14-point lead. UMHB fought back to within 10, 22-12, but two Mosely kills and an UMHB error put ETBU over the top for the 25-14 win.
UMHB took a 3-0 lead in set three but ETBU scored four straight points on two kills from Mosley, a kill from Perry, and a UMHB service error (4-3). UMBH went up 8-5 on a 5-1 run and then had an 11-7 lead. Once again, ETBU came together for a big run, 8-0, taking a 15-11 lead. There were three kills but five UMHB errors as ETBU retook the lead. UMHB came back to within one, 18-17, but a kill and UMHB error made it, 20-17. Two more UMHB points put them within one but three straight kills from Mosley, Reid, and Moody gave ETBU a four-point lead, 23-19. A UMHB kill put the score at 23-20 but a Hancock kill and then Hills only service ace of the game ended the match giving ETBU the ASC Championship, 25-20.
ETBU will now wait until Monday to see where they will go for the NCAA Division III Tournament in their fourth appearance in program history.
