MARSHALL, Texas – Winning back-to-back American Southwest Conference Tournament Championships, no. 9 East Texas Baptist University won their 27th straight match, claiming the win in five sets over the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor, 16-25, 25-19, 25-15, 25-27, 19-17. ETBU runs their home winning streak to 25 matches and now has five ASC Tournament Championships which is second all-time behind Texas Dallas' eight. It is the fourth straight win over UMHB, taking six of the last seven meetings. It is also the second year that ETBU has won the championship over the Cru.
Avery Reid was named the ASC Tournament MVP with 23 kills and six blocks in the final match.
Graycee Mosley had 16 kills and 17 digs as a member of the ASC All-Tournament team, and
Callie Humphrey was also a member, collecting a career-high 32 digs. ETBU finished with 30 total blocks as
Grace Williamson had nine,
Emily Sitton seven, and
Emily Millikan six. Both
Lexi Moody and
McKenzie Mansell recorded 22 assists.
Neither team hit well. ETBU had a .117 hitting percentage, and UMHB was at .109. ETBU finished with 82 digs to UMHB's 72.
UMHB started the match strong, taking a 12-6 lead. They went up 23-15 before taking set one, 25-16, for the lead. ETBU battled back for a 25-19 set two win. A 5-0 run put ETBU up, 7-3with two Mansell service aces and a Reid kill. Another 4-0 run gave ETBU a 15-8 lead, and a Sitton kill put the score at 21-13. UMHB scored five straight to come within four, 23-19, but a Cru attack error and a Mosley kill ended the set.
ETBU took command of set three to go up 2-1, with a 25-15 win. Starting out on a 4-0 lead, ETBU made it an 11-5 lead with two Reid kills. Five straight points put the lead at nine, 19-10, as Mosley had two kills and Humphrey added a service ace. UMHB pulled within five, 20-15, but ETBU answered with five straight points as Reid had two kills and
Hannah Perry one.
Set four started with a 7-1 lead for UMHB. The Cru went up 14-4 as they looked to run away with the set. Down 18-10, ETBU came back to within five, 20-15, on two kills by Reid. Two Cru attack errors put ETBU within two, 22-20, and then another UMHB error, a Mansell kill, and Mosley service ace tied the set at 24. Reid had a kill to tie the set at 25, but a UMHB kill and an ETBU ended the set, 27-25, for UMHB.
Playing to 15 in set five, it went to 19 points as the two teams battled back and forth. UMHB started with a 4-1 lead and went up 7-4 on an ETBU error. Two more UMHB points took place as they went up 9-5. Seven straight points from ETBU gave the Tigers a 12-9 lead. Three kills took place, one each from Sitton, Mosley, and Williamson and a Humphrey service ace. Up 14-11, ETBU needed one point to win the match but UMHB went on a 3-0 run to tie it at 14. Reid put ETBU up, 15-14, but UMHB had a kill and service ace for the 16-15 lead. UMHB was a point shy of winning the match, but ETBU stopped their run on a Reid kill, tying it at 16. Once again, UMHB scored on a kill to go up 17-16. Two straight UMHB attack errors put ETBU up, 18-17, and Mosley finished the Cru with a kill, winning the ASC Tournament Championship.
ETBU will now wait until Monday to see where they will be in the NCAA Division III Tournament.
