MARSHALL, Texas—Posting a perfect regular season record in Ornelas Gym for the third straight year, No. 1 East Texas Baptist University heads to the road one last time before postseason play this weekend. The Tigers will head to Sherman, Texas, to face the University of the Ozarks and Austin College this Saturday, closing out the regular season.
The Tigers won their last two regular-season home matches this past weekend against Austin College and UC Santa Cruz, improving to 27-0. ETBU currently has a 41-match home winning streak, with its last in Ornelas Gym occurring in September of 2022.
Here are the game notes for this weekend's matchup.
Block Party
Junior
Anita Hancock hit her 100th block of the season this past weekend against UC Santa Cruz and now has 107 on the season. The Celina, Texas, native has 285 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 winning defensive in week three. Mosley and Humphrey have won it twice, together, this year.
This week
Callie Humphrey has won her fourth American Southwest Conference weekly award of the season, fifth in her career. 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 79th career double-double against UC Santa Cruz last weekend. She recorded 12 kills and 15 digs. The four-year Senior has 1903 career kills and 1523 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 269 kills, 91 digs, and 18 blocks, totalling 295.5 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 403 kills. Senior
Lexi Moody leads the team in assists with 450, followed closely by Junior
Sydney Temple with 432. Mosley also leads in service aces with 37, followed by Temple with 33, and Humphrey with 31. Junior
Anita Hancock leads the team in blocks with 107, and Humphrey leads the team in digs with 367, followed by Mosley's 335. 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
Three-time ASC Most Valuable Player
Graycee Mosley heads into week ten with 79 career double-doubles. Last week she achieved her 19th 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 awarded the American Volleyball Coaches Association National Player of the Week award. The Senior from Troy, Texas, is second on ETBU's all-time kills list with 1903 and fifth in all-time digs with 1523.
'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 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
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 to participate in 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 the span of eight days, sweeping all three opponents 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 in a 3-1 victory, ending their time with a 3-0 sweep against Wisconsin-Stevens Point.
On the Air
The matches for this weekend will be livestreamed through the ETBU Plus Network, and are linked
here
