MARSHALL, Texas—Three-time American Southwest Champions and the No. 1 team in the nation, East Texas Baptist University, is heading to the NCAA Division III Regional Tournament in Boston, Mass. ETBU earned the No. 1 overall seed and will face Maine Maritime on the campus of Tufts University in Medford, Mass. The NCAA Regionals will take place from November 20-22, with the Tigers playing on Thursday at 1:00 p.m. Central time.
Last weekend, No. 1 ETBU swept both Howard Payne and Hardin-Simmons to secure its third-straight ASC Championship. ETBU hosted the ASC Championship tournament for the second straight year.
Here are the game notes for this weekend's match up.
Conference Recognition
After finishing an undefeated regular season with a perfect 8-0 record in the American Southwest Conference (ASC), East Texas Baptist University was awarded four major awards, and eight players were named All-ASC.
Graycee Mosley,
Callie Humphrey,
Lara Hornsby,
McKinzie Riley, and the ETBU coaching staff received the major ASC Awards.
Mosley earned her fourth straight ASC Most Valuable Player Award, becoming the only ASC athlete to win MVP four years in a row. Humphrey earns her second major ASC award, as the Libero of the Year, after being the ASC Newcomer of the Year last year. Lara Horsby and
McKinzie Riley have been named the 2025 Co-Freshmen of the Year. For the second year in a row, Head Coach
Mallory Matthews and Assistant Coach
Allison Kuster have won the ASC coaching staff of the year, sharing the award with Hardin-Simmons University.
Making the All-ASC first team are Mosley,
Anita Hancock,
Lexi Moody, and
Sydney Temple. Making the All-ASC second team are Humphrey,
Lara Hornsby,
McKinzie Riley, and
Lindsey Gooch.
Protecting the O
ETBU has not lost a home match in 43 games, with its last loss occurring to LeTourneau University in September 2022. The Tigers have had three straight perfect regular seasons in Ornelas Gymnasium. This season, they have swept 14 of 15 home matches, posting a 15-0 home record. ETBU has swept 24 of its 31 opponents this season and has gone to a fifth set only twice— against Wisconsin-Eau Claire and Hardin-Simmons. UWEC is now ranked No. 5 in the NPI with only four losses, one of which was from the while Howard-Payne is second in the American Southwest Conference.
Remarkable Résumé
The Tigers have beaten three teams in the top 25 and seven in the top 50. The University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire is No. 5 with 66.239 points, and Trinity University (TX) is No. 14 with 63,080 points. Berry is No. 25 with 60.759 points. Edgewood is No. 31 with 59.979 points, Northwestern-St. Paul is No. 33 with 59,651 points. The Tigers have also beaten two teams just outside the top 50, including No. 53 Colorado College (58.288) and No. 54 St. Thomas Houston (58.288). Colorado College won the SCAC Conference Tournament and earned an NCAA Tournament bid.
Block Party
Junior
Anita Hancock hit her 100th block of the season this past weekend against UC Santa Cruz and now has 117 on the season. The Celina, Texas, native has 295 total blocks in her career and is fifth on the ETBU all-time block list.
A Grand Accomplishment
Graycee Mosley,
Callie Humphrey,
Lexi Moody, and
Sydney Temple all achieved significant career milestones this season. Mosley hit 1,500 digs this past Saturday against UC Santa Cruz and scored her 2000th career point earlier in the season. The Troy, Texas native is now at 1,523 digs and 2,118.5 points. Mosley is approaching 2,000 career kills and is currently at 1,903. Temple collected her 1000th career dig against Howard Payne on October 25th. Humphrey completed her 1,000th career dig, and
Lexi Moody accomplished her 2,000th career assist, both against Centenary on September 16th.
Face of the ASC
ETBU has had a player awarded the American Southwest Conference Player of the Week nine times out of 10 this season. The Tigers have swept both offensive and defensive awards in four of the ten weeks, with Mosley winning offensive and
Anita Hancock winning Defensive in week one, while Hancock won the Offensive and
Callie Humphrey won defensive in week three. Mosley and Humphrey have won it twice, together, this year.
Last week,
Callie Humphrey won her fourth American Southwest Conference weekly award of the season, bringing her career total to five. The Senior from Haslet, Texas, recorded 39 digs and served seven aces on 41 attempts, scoring eight points for ETBU this weekend. Her defensive efforts helped the Tigers sweep both Austin College and UC Santa Cruz. In her two years at ETBU, Humphrey has recorded 921 digs.
Last week, Senior
Graycee Mosley earned her 19th ASC Player of the Week award, which is a new overall ASC record. She holds the most weekly awards of any athlete in the American Southwest Conference.
'Can I get a Double-Double?'
Graycee Mosley achieved her 81st and 82nd career double-doubles against Howard Payne and Hardin-Simmons last weekend. She recorded 42 kills and 20 digs on the weekend. The four-year Senior has 1981 career kills and 1568 career digs.
Freshman Phenom
With a team full of upperclassmen, Freshman
Lara Hornsby has become a major contributor for the Tigers. Playing in every match this season, Hornsby has achieved 295 kills, 104 digs, and 24 blocks, totaling 330 points.
National Attention
Senior
Graycee Mosley was awarded the American Volleyball Coaches Association National DIII Player of the Week on October 7th after a 3-0 weekend in Georgia during the Berry Invite on October 2nd and 3rd. Mosley played in all 11 sets that weekend, never coming out of a game. She had 45 kills on eight errors for a .378 hitting percentage.
Tigers with Tenure
All of the Tigers' statistical leaders are upperclassmen. Senior
Graycee Mosley leads the team with 481 kills. Senior
Lexi Moody leads the team in assists with 530, followed closely by Junior
Sydney Temple with 498. Mosley and Temple are tied in service aces, both with 37, followed by Humphrey with 35. Junior
Anita Hancock leads the team in blocks with 117, and Humphrey leads the team in digs with 431, followed by Mosley's 380. ETBU's senior class includes five players:
McKenzie Mansell,
Callie Humphrey,
Taylor Poore,
Graycee Mosley, and
Lexi Moody. Four of the five have been four-year starters for the Tigers.
Mosley File
Four-time ASC Most Valuable Player
Graycee Mosley heads into the NCAA Tournament with 82 career double-doubles. This past weekend, she won the ASC All-Tournament MVP. Two weeks ago, she achieved her 20th career ASC Weekly award, which is the most weekly awards of any American Southwest Conference athlete of any sport in the conference's history. On October 7th, she was named the American Volleyball Coaches Association National Player of the Week. The Senior from Troy, Texas, is second on ETBU's all-time kills list with 1981 and fifth in all-time digs with 1568.
'Hey Now, You're an All Star'
Head Coach
Mallory Matthews, the reigning ASC Coach of the Year, enters 2025 with five returning All-ASC players —
Graycee Mosley,
Anita Hancock,
Lexi Moody,
Callie Humphrey, and
McKenzie Mansell. Mosley is the three-time ASC MVP, Moody was the 2024 ASC Setter of the Year, and Humphrey was the 2024 ASC Newcomer of the Year.
Put a Ring on it
In early September, the Tigers received their 2024 ASC Championship ring at Ornelas Gymnasium in their home opener.
Previous Weeks Quick Hitters
3-peat ASC Champions (Nov 14-15)
This past weekend, ETBU recorded its third straight American Southwest Conference Tournament title. The Tigers swept both Howard Payne and Hardin-Simmons to secure the tournament, with
Graycee Mosley winning All-Tournament Most Valuable Player, and
Callie Humphrey and
Lexi Moody being named on the All-Tournament team.
Only Undefeated Left (Nov 8)
The Tigers finished out their regular season as the only program in Division III Women's Volleyball that remains undefeated. ETBU defeated both Ozarks and Austin College on Saturday. This is ETBU's first season making it through the regular season unscathed, as they are now 29-0 heading into the ASC tournament.
Area 41 (Oct 31-Nov 1)
For the third straight season, ETBU finishes a perfect regular-season home schedule. The Tigers beat Austin College and UC Santa Cruz this weekend, winning their 40th and 41st consecutive regular-season home games. Ornelas Gymnasium has not seen a regular-season home loss since 2022.
Super Seniors (Oct 23-25)
ETBU won three matches this week, including a top-25 sweep of St. Thomas Houston on Thursday and two conference wins against Hardin-Simmons on Friday and Howard Payne on Saturday to secure the regular-season ASC sweep. Saturday was senior day, celebrating the five seniors, four of whom have been at ETBU for all four years.
Homecoming Queens (Oct 14, 18)
During homecoming week, the Tigers swept two opponents at home for the second week in a row. ETBU beat Centenary 3-0 in Ornelas on Tuesday and swept Mary Hardin-Baylor 3-0 on Friday. The Tigers have faced and swept both of these opponents twice this season.
Home Sweep Home (Oct 9, 12)
ETBU returned to Ornelas after a month on the road and swept both Centre College and Hendrix College 3-0. The Tigers are 6-0 at home, sweeping every opponent to enter Ornelas Gymnasium this season.
'Georgia on My Mind' (Oct. 3-4)
The Tigers took a road trip to Georgia for the Berry Invite. The Tigers won all three matches they played, sweeping Covenant, beating the host, number 14-ranked Berry, and beating Oglethorpe. The Tigers are the only team from outside the state of Georgia in the invitational and the only team to beat every opponent in the invite.
Travelin' Tigers (Sept. 26-27)
ETBU traveled to every American Southwest Conference opponent in eight days, sweeping all three 3-0. The Tigers took care of business against UMHB on September 19th, then swept Hardin-Simmons on September 26 in Abilene and Howard Payne on September 27 in Brownwood. The Tigers have played 11 of their 15 matches this season on the road. Their last seven matches have been on the road.
Business Trip (Sept. 16, 19)
ETBU went back on the road, sweeping Centenary in Shreveport, LA, on Tuesday night. Then, the Tigers returned to Texas, opening conference play against UMHB, winning 3-0 in Belton.
Historic Weekend (Sept. 12-13)
ETBU went 3-0 at the Tiger Classic hosted by Trinity Texas, defeating Whitworth (3-1), UNW (3-0), and Trinity (3-1). The Tigers broke two program records. Beating No. 12 Trinity Texas for the first time in program history and going 11-0 for the first time.
Hometown Heroes (Sept. 5-6)
The Tigers went 4-0 in their home opener, winning every match in three sets. Last year, they posted a 29-match streak that ended in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. They carry a 30-match regular-season home winning streak and a 29-match regular-season win streak into week three of play. The Tigers have not lost a regular-season home match since 2022, when they fell 3-2 to LeTourneau.
Cool in Colorado (Aug. 29-30)
ETBU opened the season by going a cool 4-0 in the Pikes Peak Challenge hosted by Colorado College. The Tigers started off the weekend by beating Edgewood 3-0 and then played a close 5-set match with No. 22 Wisconsin-Eau Claire. ETBU then took on host Colorado College, winning 3-1, and ended its time with a 3-0 sweep against Wisconsin-Stevens Point.
On the Air
For all championship information and results, including live streaming of the games, log on to ncaa.com
