HOUSTON, Texas – Playing in their second-straight five-set match, no. 17 East Texas Baptist University held onto the victory, 3-2 (20-25, 25-15, 25-16, 19-25, 15-12), over the University of St. Thomas Texas. ETBU has won 10 matches in a row and is 11-1.
 
Graycee Mosley and Avery Reid led ETBU's attack offense, combining for 40 kills of the 64 the team had. Mosley earned her third straight double-double with 23 kills and 22 digs and now has eight double-doubles on the year. Reid posted 17 kills with two blocks and five digs. Anita Hancock added eight kills with three blocks. Grace Williamson recorded six blocks with five kills as Callie Humphrey led the team with 29 digs. McKenzie Mansell added 29 assists, while Lexi Moody had 25 assists. ETBU's defense held UST to just a .094 hitting percentage.
 
UST started the first set with a 10-4 lead, making it 16-9 on a service ace. A Reid kill pulled ETBU within two, 22-20, but two Tiger attack errors and a UST kill ended the set in favor of the Celts, 25-20.
 
ETBU changed the momentum in set two, moving ahead, 8-2, on a Hannah Perry kill. A Reid kill made it 11-4, and then back-to-back kills from Mosley and Raylynn Pitts gave ETBU an eight-point lead, 16-8. UST was within four, 18-14, but ETBU scored the following six points with two Reid kills, a service ace from Sadie Kasowski, and three UST attack errors making it, 24-14. A UST service error ended the set as ETBU tied it at one, 25-15.
 
Set three had the same feeling as set two as ETBU took the win, 25-16. ETBU was down 5-2, with two kills from Mosley and Reid, and a UST attack error tied the set at five. UST went back up, 7-6, only to see four straight points from ETBU with two kills from Reid and a Moody service ace for the 10-7 lead. UST again tied it at 10, but two Hancock kills and a UST error put ETBU back up, 13-10. UST scored the next point, but five straight ETBU points made it 18-11. Mosley had three of the five points with kills. An attack error from UST gave ETBU a 10-point lead, 24-14, and a Hancock kill ended the set, 25-16, as ETBU went up, 2-1.
 
UST took set four, 25-19. Down 6-5, ETBU went on a 5-0 run with a kill from Hancock and Reid with a Kasowski service ace and two UST attack errors to go up 10-6. UST battled back and tied the set at 13, but a kill from Mosley made it 15-14. UST scored five points to go up, 19-15, and went on for the 25-19 win, forcing set five.
 
The Celts jumped to a 3-1 lead, but four straight ETBU points made it 5-3. Kills from Pitts, Mosley, and Mansell helped in the run. Two more points came with a Mosley kill and a UST error for a 7-4 lead. Kills from Hancock and Reid provided a four-point lead, 10-6, and Mosley put ETBU up, 13-10, with a kill. UST pulled to within one, 13-12, but Mosley and Perry finished off the Celts with kills for the 15-12 match win.
 
ETBU opens up American Southwest Conference play on Friday at 6:00 p.m. against LeTourneau University in Longview.