MEDFORD, MA —It was a historic night for No. 1 East Texas Baptist University as they swept No. 18 Emory University 25-13, 25-22, 25-23 to advance to the NCAA Division III Medford, Mass. Regional Tournament Championship match for the first time in program history. Moving to 33-0, ETBU surpasses the program record for wins of 32 set in 2013 as the Tigers recorded their 26
th sweep of the season.
Graycee Mosley had an impressive night as she reached her 2000th career kill finishing with 13. She is now 11 kills away from the all-time ETBU record set by Arden Tunnell from 2002-05 with 2,015. Recording 12 digs, she also posted her 84
th career double-double.
Lara Hornsby wasn't far behind with 10 kills and no errors on 17 attempts for a .588 hitting percentage, recording four digs.
Anita Hancock has been on a scoring streak during the NCAA Tournament, recording eight kills in yesterday's match and nine tonight, and is now three blocks away from her 300th career block.
Katherine Server recorded six kills while
McKinzie Riley had five.
Lexi Moody and
Sydney Temple both achieved 19 assists, making up 38 of the team's 43 assists.
Callie Humphrey had eight digs.
ETBU continued to show outstanding offense, posting a .314 team hitting percentage and 48 kills. They posted 19 kills in set three with a .395 hitting percentage and held Emory to just a .229 hitting percentage to 0.038 in set one.
Katherine Server started the first set with a sharp serve, pushing the Eagles back. Mosley was able to capitalize on an assist from Moody to score the first point. Emory took the lead after a couple of errors from the Tigers, but ETBU battled back, taking a 7-2 lead from Riley and Mosley's kills. Emory took a timeout, but the Tigers remained on schedule with two kills from Server, adding to a 14-6 lead. The Eagles scored on two kills before ETBU matched them with two kills from Mosley. ETBU closed out a 23-13 lead with a service error from Emory and a kill from Hornsby to win the first set 25-13. The Tigers held Emory to a .038 hitting percentage in the first set while landing 13 kills for a .400 hitting percentage. Mosley led the team with six kills while Moody recorded six assists.
Mosley recorded the first points in set two with a kill assisted by Moody. Emory responded with one of its own, tying the match, 1-1. The teams traded points until ETBU took a 6-3 lead thanks to two kills from Hornsby and
Lindsey Gooch. The Eagles crept back with kills, making it 8-7, but ETBU regained the lead with a kill from Riley and a couple of service errors, advancing the score to 12-7. A back-and-forth set led to a 13-12 lead for ETBU, but a service ace, a few attack errors, and a kill from Hancock almost put the game out of reach as the Tigers took an 18-13 lead, forcing an Emory timeout. The Eagles came out of the timeout scoring four points in a row, cutting the lead to one, 18-17. Emory tied the score with an ace and took the advantage with a kill, making it 19-18. The Tigers took a decisive stand, taking back the lead with a kill from Hancock, then forcing an attack error and scoring on a Hornsby kill and another attack error, moving up 22-19. Emory called a timeout and then narrowed the lead to two, 22-20. ETBU, though, closed out the set, capitalizing on an Eagles service error and two kills from Server, winning the second set 25-22. ETBU spread the love with five different Tigers getting two or more kills in the second set. Hornsby and Server led the way with four and three kills, respectively, while Mosley, Hancock, and Gooch all scored two. ETBU recorded 16 kills in the second set, assisted by Moody and Temple, who recorded four and eight assists, respectively, in the second set.
The third set was opened up by Mosley scoring her 2000th career kill, giving ETBU the 1–0 lead. Emory scored on two consecutive kills, taking the lead back before ETBU recorded kills by Riley and Hancock, tying it 3-3. The Eagles went on a streak, earning three kills and an attack error by the Tigers to go up 8-4. Back-and-forth points followed, including three kills from Mosley and one from Hornsby, that brought the score to 14-11 in favor of the Eagles. Mosley scored an ace, then Hornsby and Server connected for three kills, forcing a timeout and cutting into a 16–14 lead for the opponent. ETBU tied the match with two kills from Mosley and Hornsby, then Emory took it back with two kills of their own to bring the score to 19-17. ETBU cashed in on a kill from Moody and an attack error by the Eagles to come to a 19-19 tie. The Eagles had a kill, but Hancock connected on three straight to take the lead, 23-20. Emory tied the score on a few ETBU errors, but an attack error by the Eagles gave ETBU the lead and the ball. Mosley served an ace to win the match, 25-23.
ETBU will play in its first-ever Regional Championship at 4:00 p.m. Central Time on the Campus of Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts, against No. 14 Tufts.
NOTES
- ETBU broke the program record for wins at 33, surpassing 32 wins in 2013 by former head coach Lyndsey Mashe — current head coach Mallory Matthews as a freshman on the team.
- It was the fourth win over a ranked opponent this season.
- Graycee Mosley earned her 2000th career kill and now needs 15 kills to become the all-time program record holder.
- This will be the second meeting between ETBU and Tufts, who played each other on September 6, 2014, in Colorado Springs, Colo. Tufts won, 3-1.
- The win over Emory was the program's first in five meetings and the second time the teams had met in two years.
- Lexi Moody now has 2,356 assists and 679 digs
- Sydney Temple now has 1,126 career assists
- Anita Hancock is fifth all-time in career blocks
- ETBU has the most wins (33) of any NCAA volleyball program currently in 2025, as the University of Tampa is 25-0 and Nebraska is 26-0
- All three No. 1 teams in NCAA Volleyball are undefeated in Tampa (D2), Nebraska (D1), and ETBU (D3)
